
ifi§ Warn 







LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Jl 



Shelf .p r 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



gsm III 




^St|||j r l|§|g 




'" 



^\->: 






-''" y >-*-'-: 

fii|i ipi 

jif|S p§| 

















IIP ttfeS&Si- ffigfi 



'HSJEi " 




JUL 2<* 1 9W 



HISTORY 



Civil Government 



IOWA. 



FOR THE USE OF NORMAL AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, TEACHERS 
INSTITUTES, AND PRIVATE INSTRUCTION. 



&S- 



GEO. CHANDLER, 

Suft. of Schools, Mitchell County , loiva. 



S 



,~»^ 



/ / 



*?1,P 



CHICAGO: 

A. FLANAGAN. 

1884. 



J G> ^ be 



COPYRIGHT 1S84 

by A. FLANAGAN. 



PREFACE. 

* 

^jj^piiHIS little book has been prepared in answer to a de- 

fjlSL mand of a text-book on the civil government of 
• J IFF Iowa, for the use of schools and institutes. A 

*W knowledge of the workings of our government is 
essential to good citizenship, but this branch of study has 
been sadly neglected even in the graded schools of the State. 
This neglect has been due to the fact that the means of ac- 
quiring information upon the subject are not available. 
The Code and Session Laws contain the necessary facts, 
but in such form that they are of but little use to the pupil. 
The object of the t>ook is to give briefly a history of the 
settlement and growth of the State, an account of her va- 
rious institutions, and to show the workings of the govern- 
ment as provided for in the constitution and seen ill state, 
district, county, town, and township. The List of State 
Officers and Table of Counties will be found useful for 
study or reference. 

Brief sketches of the persons, battles, etc., mentioned in 
the second column of Table of Counties will be valuable 
for Friday afternoon exercises. 

That the book will be kindly received by those who de- 
sire information upon this much neglected subject is the 
hope of 

The Author. 
Osage, Iowa, June 2, 1884. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 
HISTORY OF IOWA 5 

STATE INSTITUTIONS.— University—Normal School— Agricultural 
College — College for Blind, Deaf and Dumb — Soldiers' Home — Feeble- 
Minded — Reform School — Penitentiaries I 3" I 9 

CONSTITUTION OF IOWA 22 

CIV1I- GOVERNMENT OF IOWA 53 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. - House of Representatives - 
When Chosen — Qualifications — Vacancies — Powers — Composition of Sen- 
ate—Number — How Classed— Oath of Office— Salary— Privileges— Penal- 
ties — Prohibitions 63 -76 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 79 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. —Militia— Education— Corporations- 
School Funds and Lands — Amendments — Miscellaneous 84-93 

STATE. — Auditor — Secretary — Treasurer — Executive Council — Superinten- 
dent Public Instruction — Attorney General — State Binder — Railroad Com- 
missioners — State Librarian. 90-103 

COURTS. — Supreme — District — Circuit Courts — Congressional Districts. 104-102 

SENATORIAL DISTRICTS 114 

REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS nt . 

COUNTIES.— Officers— Board of Supervisors— Auditor— Treasurer— Clerk 
of Courts— Sheriff— Rexorder— Superintendent of Schools— Surveyor— Coro- 
ners — Notaries Public - 118- 134 

TOWN AND CITV GOVERNMENT.— Officers-Mayor-Council- 
Marshal — Treasurer — Auditor — Civil Engineer — Police Judge — Market Su- 
perintendent — Incorporate Town Officers 135-138 

TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT.— Officers— Assessor— Justice of the 
Peace — Constables ; 139 146 

COUNTIES OF IOWA.— Origin of name— County Seat— Population.. i5i 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



Iowa, " The Beautiful Land," was discovered by 
James Marquette and Louis Joliette, in 1673. Upon 
the right of discovery, so-called, France based her 
claim, not only to Iowa, but to all the lands along 
which her subjects sailed. Ninety years later, 1763, 
the French king ceded his possessions in the Valley of 
the Mississippi, to Spain. In 1801, Napoleon com- 
pelled Spain to make a secret cession of this territory 
to him, and, two years later, he ceded it to the United 
States for $15,000,000. This tract of land, known as 
the Louisiana Purchase, was so vast that the price per 
acre amounted to less than two and one-half cents. 

In 1788, Julien Dubuque obtained permission from 
three chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes to dig for ore on 
the west bank of the Mississippi. The same year, he 
staked out a claim containing nearly two hundred 
square miles, and opened several lead mines, which he 
continued to work until the time of his death, in 1810. 
Dubuque, with his ten associates, formed the first set- 
tlement made by the whites in Iowa, and the city and 
county of Dubuque were named in his honor. Other 
Frenchmen settled at Montrose and Prairie Du Chien 
about the beginning of the present century, but the 
settlements were very feeble. 
—5— 



6 



history of iowa. 



In 1804, the Louisiana Purchase was divided by 
the thirty-third parallel of north latitude, the southern 
part to be known as the territory of Orleans, the north- 
ern part, as the district of Louisiana. The district of 
Louisiana, embracing the present States of Arkansas, 
Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota, and the unexplored 
regions westward to the Rocky Mountains, was attached 
to Indiana, with William Henry Harrison for first gov- 
ernor. Eight years later, Iowa was organized as a part 
of the territory of Missouri. In 1S21, when Missouri 
was admitted into the Union as a state, Iowa was left 
" out in the cold," politically, and no provision was 
made for the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase 
until 1834, when it became a part of the territory of 
Michigan. This connection lasted but a short time, 
however, for two years later, Iowa became a part of the 
territory of Wisconsin, then formed. 

In 1838, that part of the territory of Wisconsin 
lying west of the Mississippi was organized as the 
territory of Iowa, and Robert Lucas, of Ohio, was 
appointed first governor. Under his direction, the first 
census was taken, members of the legislature were 
chosen, and civil government in Iowa was begun. The 
act of congress that provided for the organization of 
this territory gave the governor full power to veto any 
and all acts of the legislature. 

In 1840, and' again in 1842, attempts were made 
to call a convention to draft a state constitution, but 
without success. In 1844, however, a convention called 
for this purpose, met at Iowa City, and drafted a con- 
stitution, which prescribed boundaries differing very 
materially from the present boundaries of Iowa. Within 
these limits were included a large part of what is now 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



Minnesota, as well as all of Iowa, except a small por- 
tion of the northwestern part of the state, embracing 
the counties of Lyon, Osceola and Sioux, and parts of 
three or four adjoining counties. 

These boundaries proved to be unsatisfactory to 
congress, and new qnes were proposed by that body. 
The meridian of \J° $o f west from Washington was to 
be the western boundary, and the northern boundary 
was changed so as to limit the state in that direction 
also. In April, 1845, ^ ls constitution, owing to the 
dissatisfaction with regard to boundaries, was rejected 
by the people. After another unsuccessful attempt in 
the following year, a constitution with the present 
boundaries, which had been proposed by congress, was 
adopted Aug. 3, 1846, and Dec. 28, of the same year, 
Iowa, the twenty-ninth state, was admitted to the 
Union. 

Reference has already been made to the early set- 
tlements in Iowa. The permanent settlement of the 
state did not begin until after the close of the Black 
Hawk war, in 1832. In June of the next year, people 
from Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan pushed across 
the Mississippi and staked out claims at Fort Madison, 
Burlington, Davenport, and several other places along 
the river. 

A noted author, in speaking of these settlers, says, 
" The pioneers of Iowa, as a class, were a brave, hardy, 
intelligent and enterprising people. Among those who 
have pioneered the civilization of the West and been 
founders of great states, none have ranked higher in 
the scale of intelligence and moral worth than the 
pioneers of Iowa who came to the territory when it 
was still an Indian country, and through hardship, 



Q HISTORY OF IOWA. 

privation and suffering, laid the foundations of this 
great and prosperous commonwealth, which to-day dis- 
penses her blessings to more than a million and a half 
of people. In all the professions, arts, industries and 
enterprises which go to make up a great and prosper- 
ous people, Iowa has taken and -holds a front rank 
among her sister states of the West." 

The territory obtained from the Indians by the 
Black Hawk Purchase extended along the Mississippi 
from the northern boundary of Missouri to the mouth 
of the Upper Iowa River. The strip averaged about 
fifty miles in width and contained nearly six millions 
of acres, or about one-sixth of the present area of 
Iowa. 

In a former treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians, 
a valuable tract of land, containing nearly one hundred 
and thirteen thousand acres, was reserved for the half- 
breeds of these tribes. This land was situated in what 
was afterwards the southern part of Lee county. The 
covetous eyes of land speculators were soon turned 
towards this reservation, and companies were formed 
for the purpose of purchasing the rights of the half- 
breeds to the soil. As might have been expected, con- 
flicting claims arose, and several years were spent in 
litigation. At last the supreme court appointed com- 
missioners to settle the vexing question. These men 
divided the tract into one hundred and one shares, and 
the titles granted by them were afterwards declared 
valid by the courts. 

In 1842, the government made another treaty 
with the Sacs and Foxes, and by its terms gained pos- 
session of the remainder of the lands belonging to 
those tribes in Iowa. The Indians were to retain pos- 



HISTORY OF JOWA. 9 

session of the land till the first of May, 1843. This 
region had been thoroughly explored by the whites, 
but the United States authorities had prevented any 
settlements from being made. As the time for the 
opening of the land to settlers drew near, hundreds of 
families encamped along the line ; and by sundown of 
May 1st, over one thousand families had settled in this 
new territory. These settlers were simply squatters, 
for the lands occupied by them had never been sur- 
veyed, and still belonged to the general government. 
Under the laws of the United States, then in force, 
all lands subject to settlement were to be offered at 
public sale and sold to the highest responsible bidder. 
If the land could not be sold for want of bidders, 
actual settlers acquired the right to enter it at the 
minimum price of a dollar and a quarter per acre. 
Many old settlers of Iowa are now living upon the land 
which they occupied before the land sale, as it was 
called. 

GROWTH. 

When Iowa was admitted into the Union, there 
were twenty-seven organized counties, but immigra- 
tion had been so rapid»that many of the one hundred 
thousand settlers had founded homes for themselves 
even before the lands were surveyed or the counties 
organized. 

The first session of the legislature of the territory 
of Iowa convened at Burlington in 1839. Nearly all 
of. its meetings were held in the M. E. church of that 
place. In the early part of the session, three commis- 
sioners were appointed to select a site for a permanent 
seat of government within the limits of Johnson 
county. The commissioners selected a section of land, 



10 HISTORY OF IOWA. 

caused it to be surveyed into town lots, and in accord- 
ance with an act of the legislature, named the place 
Iowa City. Work on the public buildings was begun 
at once, and on July 4, 1840, Gov. Lucas reported to 
the legislature that the foundation of the capitol was 
nearly completed. 

At the first session of the state legislature, it was 
decided that Iowa City was too near the eastern bound- 
ary of the state for a permanent seat of government. 
It was accordingly determined to re-locate the capital 
at some point more centrally located. The commis- 
sioners appointed to select the new site chose five 
sections of land in the southwestern part of Jasper 
county, and called the town which they laid out, 
Monroe City. The public buildings at Iowa City were 
to be given to the State University, which had been 
established the year before. 

But Monroe City did not thrive, and the legisla- 
ture continued to meet at Iowa City. In 1855, an act 
was passed removing the capital to Des Moines, and, 
three years later, the legislature began its work at that 
place. In a few years the capitol building was found 
to be inadequate to the wan|^ of the growing state, 
and, in 1870, the sum of $150,000 was appropriated 
for a new building. Other appropriations, amounting 
to nearly $2,500,000, have been made from time to 
time, and, at the present writing, the Twentieth Gen- 
eral Assembly holds its meetings in this new capitol, a 
building worthy of the great state of Iowa. 

Upon her admission to the Union, Iowa received * 
a grant of 500,000 acres of land, in accordance with an 
act of congress, approved Sept. 4, 1841. By another 
act, passed March 3, 1845, the sixteenth section of each 



ttiSfORY 01? IOWA. tl 

unorganized congressional township was set apart for 
school purposes. The latter act also appropriated 
46,080 acres of land to aid in establishing a State Uni- 
versity. The state constitution provides that the 
money obtained from the sale of these lands (the Uni- 
versity grant excepted), shall be and remain a perpet- 
ual fund for the support of schools throughout the 
state. The permanent school fund is made up of the 
proceeds of these grants, together with the money 
obtained from the sale of estates of persons deceased 
without heirs, and what is known as the " Five Per 
Cent. Fund." This fund was founded by an act of 
congress which set apart five per cent, of all moneys 
received from the sale of public lands within their bor- 
ders. Several law suits, growing out of the location 
of lands by soldiers' warrants, have arisen in this and 
other states, and the matter is still in the courts. 

The interest upon this fund is distributed to the 
different counties twice a year, and forms a part of 
what is called the semi-annual apportionment. The 
fund itself can never be diminished or appropriated to 
any other use. The permanent school fund at the 
present time amounts to about $4,000,000, from which 
about $r 24,000 interest is received semi-annually and 
apportioned among the several counties according to 
their respective populations of school age. 

Thus it will be seen that at an early date in our 
history, provision was made for the establishment and 
support of the common schools. Even before the 
early settlers had erected comfortable houses for them- 
selves, they began to look about them for means with 
which to build school houses. Voluntary contribu- 
tions of logs and other materials were made by those 



12 HISTORY OF IOWA. 

who had them to give, and others bore their part of 
the burden by aiding in the construction of the houses. 
In many instances, teachers received a part of their 
wages in " boarding 'round." 

From these humble beginnings, the educational 
interests of the state have constantly improved, until 
now her school system is considered one of the most 
complete in the United States. Although the twelfth 
state in area, there are only four states in the Union 
that have a greater number of school houses. Her 
schools, supported at an annual expense of more than 
$5,ooo t ooo, testify to the public spirit and lofty pur- 
pose of her people. 

The census of 1880 discloses some interesting facts 
concerning our educational progress. In no state in 
the Union, except Kansas, having so much as one-half 
the population of Iowa, are there so few illiterates over 
ten years of age. In ability to read, the people of Iowa 
head the list, and, in ability to write, they are second 
only to Nebraska. Only four states, viz. : New York, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois have a greater number 
of school houses, or employ more teachers than our 
own state. 



STATE INSTITUTIONS. 



Iowa has been very liberal in establishing the 
higher institutions of learning, and providing for the 
unfortunate of all classes. The State University was 
authorized by the constitution and permanently loca- 
ted at Iowa City, in Johnson Co. The other institu- 
tions have been established by acts of the general 
assembly passed at different times in our history. 

STATE UNIVERSITY. 

The object of the State University, is to furnish 
young men and women the best means of obtaining a 
liberal education in the different departments of litera- 
ture, and the applications of the various arts and sciences. 
It is intended that the work of this institution shall 
commence, where that of the best high schools of the 
State ends. There are three departments, the academ- 
ical^ the department of law, and the department of 
medicine. The academical department has four cour- 
ses of study, classical, philosophical, scientific, and civil 
engineering. These courses are prepared with a view 
to meeting the wants of all who apply for admission as 
students. The design of the other departments is to 
fit students for the best work in their respective callings. 

The University is governed by a board of regents, 
and can never be under the exclusive control of any 
— 13— 



14 IOWA STATE INSTITUTIONS. 

religious denomination. The board of regents consists 
of the governor of the state who is president of the 
board, ex-officio, the president of the State University, 
the superintendent of public instruction, and one mem- 
ber from each congressional district. The first three 
are members by virtue of the offices held by them, the 
others are elected by the general assembly, in joint 
convention for six years, one-third, as nearly as possible, 
being chosen at each regular session. 

STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 

The State Agricultural College and Farm were 
provided for by the general assembly, in the year 
1858. Commissioners were soon afterwards appointed, 
and the farm and site for the buildings were located 
at Ames, in Story Co. The farm consists of about 
eight hundred acres of dry rolling prairie, and one 
hundred and fifty acres of valuable timber. There is 
a never-failing spring of water near the centre of the 
farm, a good stone quarry not far distant, and plenty 
of clay for use in making bricks. 

In 1862, two hundred and forty thousand acres of 
land were granted by congress for the benefit of this 
school, and the interest on the fund arising from the 
sale of this land, furnishes abundant means for its 
support. An additional grant of five sections in Jas- 
per Co., was also made, and the general assembly has, 
at various times, increased its resources by liberal ap- 
propriations. The management is placed in the hands 
of a board of trustees, consisting of one member from 
each congressional district, chosen in the same manner 
as regents of the State University, together with the 
governor and superintendent of public instruction. 



IOWA STATE INSTITUTIONS. 15 

The design of the college is to furnish instruction 
in all the arts and sciences that have any bearing upon 
agriculture. Tuition is free to all inhabitants of the 
state over sixteen years of age. Each county is enti- 
tled to send three pupils to the college, and the trustees 
to designate the further number that any county may 
send. 

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

The State Normal School was established by act 
of the legislature, approved, March 28, 1876, and loca- 
ted at Cedar Falls, in Black Hawk Co. The buildings 
and grounds, formerly used for the Soldiers' Orphans' 
Home, were appropriated to its use, and the school 
was formally opened in September, 1876. It is man- 
aged by a board of directors, consisting of six mem- 
bers, who are elected by the general assembly, in joint 
convention, two at each regular session. 

There are now two courses, the didactic and the 
scientific. The former requires three years' study, and 
the latter, four years'. The object of the school, is to 
provide for the special instruction and training of 
teachers for the common schools of the State. The 
course of study embraces Literature, Mathematics, 
History, the elements of the Sciences and Didactics. 
How to teach each subject pursued is made a prominent 
feature in all the work of the school. The Nineteenth 
General Assembly, appropriated thirty thousand dollars 
for the erection of an additional building, which was 
completed the following year, 1883. Four hundred 
students can now be accommodated. 

COLLEGE FOR THE BLIND. 

This college was opened for the reception of pupils 
at Iowa City, April 4, 1853. Five years later, the 



l6 IOWA STATE INSTITUTIONS. 

board of trustees met at Vinton, Burton Co., and, in 
accordance with law, began the erection of a suitable 
building at that place. In 1862, the building was so 
far completed, that the school, consisting of about 
forty pupils, was opened in it. The institution is under 
the management of a board of trustees six in number, 
three of whom are elected at each regular session of 
the general assembly for the term of four years. 

All blind persons of suitable age, residents of the 
state, may receive an education here free of charge, 
and residents of other states may be admitted upon 
the payment of their estimated expenses, quarterly in 
advance. No person from another state will be re- 
ceived to the exclusion of any resident of Iowa. There 
is an industrial school connected with the college, for 
the benefit of all blind persons who are dependent upon 
themselves for support. 

INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB. 

The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb was es- 
tablished at Iowa City, in 1853, permanently located 
at Council Bluffs, July 4, 1866, and removed to that 
place in 1871. Every deaf and dumb child in the 
state, of suitable age, is entitled to an education in 
this school, at the expense of the state. The instruc- 
tion given is of a very practical nature, and the course 
of study embraces those branches that will be of the 
greatest benefit to the pupils. There are several 
work-shops connected with the institution, and its in- 
mates are allowed to learn any of the trades represen- 
ted. The trustees are elected by the general assem- 
bly, in joint convention, for six years, one at each 
regular session. 



IOWA STATE INSTITUTIONS. 1 7 

soldiers' orphans' home. 

To Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer belongs the credit 
of securing a. home for the soldiers' orphans of Iowa. 
In October, 1863, a convention was called to meet at 
Muscatine for the purpose of devising some means for 
the support an education of these children. An 
association was formed and plans were perfected for 
soliciting contributions. A building at Lawrence, Van 
Buren Co., was leased, and twenty -one orphans were 
admitted in July, 1864. The home was sustained by 
contributions until 1866, when the state assumed con- 
trol of it. 

For a time, there was a soldiers' orphans' home at 
at each of the following places: Cedar Falls, Black 
Hawk Co., Glenwood, Mills Co., and Davenport, Scott 
Co. Only the one at Davenport has been retained, 
the building at Glenwood having being converted to 
the use of the Institution for the Feeble-Minded, and 
the one at Cedar Falls to the use of the State Normal 
School. Three trustees are elected for two years at 
each regular session of the general assembly. 

HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE. 

This institution was authorized by the general 
assembly in 1855, but it was not open to receive 
patients until March, 1861. It is located at Mt. Fleas- 
ant, Henry Co. An additional hospital for the insane 
was established at Independence, Buchanan Co., in 
1868. The Twentieth General Assembly also autho- 
rized a hospital of this kind, to be located somewhere 
in the south-western part of the state. 

In each county there is a board of commissioners 
of insanity, consisting of the clerk of the circuit court, 
2 



i8 



IOWA STATE INSTITUTIONS. 



and two others appointed by the judge of the circuit 
court, one of whom must be a practicing lawyer and the 
other a practicing, physician. All applications for the 
admission of insane persons to the hospital must be 
made to these commissioners. After the person 
supposed to be insane has been examined in the manner 
prescribed by law, the commissioners decide whether he 
shall be sent to the hospital or not. The board and 
other expenses of the insane, are paid from the receipts 
of a tax levied for this purpose, by the supervisors of the 
respective counties. 

INSTITUTION FOR THE FEEBLE-MINDED. 

In the words of the statute, " The purposes of this 
institution are to train, instruct, support, and care for 
feeble-minded children." It is located at Glenwood, 
Mills Co. The management is in the hands of a super- 
intendent, who is appointed by the board of trustees. 
He gives bonds for the faithful performance of his 
duties, in such a sum, as the trustees may direct. 
Every resident of the state between the ages of five 
and eighteen years who, by reason of deficient intellect 
is rendered unable to acquire an education in 
the common schools, is entitled to the advantages 
offered by this institution, free cjf charge. 

The term " feeble-minded " is intended to include 
idiotic children, and a separate department is provided 
for those who cannot be benefited by educational 
training. Any inmate of the institution, may be 
returned to the parent or guardian, whenever the trus- 
tees may direct. The trustees are three in number, and 
are chosen by the general assembly, one at each regu- 
lar session. 



IOWA STATE INSTITUTIONS. 19 

REFORM SCHOOL. 

T his school was established in Lee Co., in March, 
1868, and in October of the same year, the first inmate 
was received. In 1873, the school was removed to 
Eldora, Hardin Co., and some time after, 1 880, a law was 
passed removing the girls to a separate school at Mit- 
chellville, Polk Co. 

These schools are intended for the reformation oi 
such boys and girls under eighteen years of age as may 
be committed to them. Any person under sixteen 
years of age, who is found to be guilty of any crime 
except murder, may be sent to this school upon the 
order of the judge of the court in which he was con- 
victed. Instruction is given in morality, and in such 
branches of study as the trustees prescribe. A certain 
amount of labor, varying with the age, strength, and 
capacity, is performed by each pupil. With the con- 
sent of the parents or guardians, pupils may be bound 
out to service until the time of their majority. The 
trustees, in whose care the schools are placed, are elec- 
ted by the general assembly, in joint convention, for a 
term of six years. They are five in number, and both 
schools are under the control of the same board. 

PENITENTIARIES. 

In addition to the institutions already mentioned, 
tho state has been obliged to make provisions for -re- 
straining criminals, and especially those guilty of felony. 
Public offences are of two kinds, felonies and misde- 
meanors. A felony is a crime which is punishable by 
imprisonment in the penitentiary. All other crimes 
are misdemeanors. The first steps towards establish- 
ing a penitentiary were taken by the territorial legis- 



20 IOWA STATE INSTITUTIONS. 

lature, in 1839. Directors were appointed to superin- 
tend the construction of the building which was t% be 
located at Ft. Madison, Lee Co. An additional peni- 
tentiary was established at Anamosa, Jones Co., by 
the Fourteenth General Assembly. In May, 1873, 
twenty convicts were transferred from the penitentiary 
at Ft. Madison to the new one at Anamosa. 

The building at the latter place is of stone, and 
much of the work of quarrying, as well as building was 
done by the convicts themselves. The discipline is 
rigid, but humane. The convicts learn various trades, 
and their labor is sold to contractors, the work being 
done within the penitentiary with machines and tools 
belonging to the state. ' 

Each penitentiary is under the control of a warden, 
who is subject to the governor of the state. The war- 
dens are elected by joint ballot of the general assem- 
bly, and hold their offices two years. They are 
responsible for the government and discipline of the 
inmates of the prisons, and the receipts and disburse- 
ments of all moneys belonging to the institutions. The 
warden of each penitentiary is obliged to give bonds to 
the amount of fifty thousand dollars, for the faithful 
performance of his duties. He is obliged to report, 
once a month a complete statement of all official acts 
performed by him, since his last report, with a full 
account of the receipts and expenditures of the prison 
under his control. The other officers are the deputy 
warden, the chaplain, the physician and the guards. 

Every prisoner sentenced to either of the peni- 
tentiaries for a term of years, or less, who does not vio- 
late the rules of discipline, is entitled to a reduction 
of his term of service. This reduction is one day for 



IOWA STATE INSTITUTIONS. 21 

the first month of good behavior, two days for the 
second month, three for the third, four for the fourth, 
and five days for each subsequent month of his term. 
The sum of these days, known as- the prisoners " good 
time" is deducted from his term of service, and any 
prisoner who passes his full term of service, without 
any violation of discipline, is entitled to a restoration 
of his rights of citizenship. This restoration, is granted 
by the governor, upon the certificate of the warden, 
that the person released, was not guilty of violating 
any of the rules of the prison during his term of service. 
The expenses of erecting the different public build- 
ings and keeping them in repair, have been borne by the 
state. The entire amount expended for this purpose, 
and for meeting the contingent expenses of all the 
institutions, to June 30, 1883, aggregate nearly twelve 
millions of dollars. 




CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Preamble. We, the People of the State of Iowa, grateful 

to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto 
enjoyed, and feeling our dependence ton Him for a 
continuation of those blessings, do ordain and estab- 
lish a free and independent government, by the 
name of The State of Iowa, the boundaries 
whereof shall be as follows: 

Beginning in the middle of the main channel of the 
Mississippi river, at a point due east of the middle of the 
mouth of the main channel of the Des Moines river, 
thence up the middle of the main channel of the said 
Des Moines river, to a point on said river where the 
Boundary. northern boundary line of the State of Missouri — as 

established by the Constitution of that State, adopted 
June 12, 1820 — crosses the said middle of the main chan- 
nel of the said Des Moines river; thence westwardly 
along the said northern boundary line of the State of 
Missouri, as established at the time aforesaid, until an 
extension of said line intersects the middle of the main 
channel of the Missouri river; thence up the middle of 
the main channel of the said Missouri river to a point 
opposite to the middle of the main channel of the Big 
Sioux river, according to Nicollet's map; thence up the 
main channel of the said Big Sioux river, according to 
the said map, until it is intersected by the parallel of 
forty-three degrees and thirty minutes north latitude; 
thence east along said parallel of forty-three degrees and 
thirty minutes, until said parallel intersects the middle 
of the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence 
down the middle of the main channel of the said Missis- 
sippi river to the place of beginning. 

— 22— 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



23 



ARTICLE T.— BILL OF RIGHTS. 

Section i. All men are, by nature, free and equal, 
and have certain inalienable rights, among which are 
those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquir- 
ing, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing 
and obtaining safety and happiness. 

Sec. 2. All political power is inherent in the people. 
Government is instituted for the protection, security, 
and benefit of the people, and they have the right, at 
all times, to alter or reform the same, whenever the pub- 
lic good may require it. 

Sec. 3. The General Assembly shall make no law 
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting 
the free exercise thereof; nor shall any person be com- 
pelled to attend any place of worship, pay tithes, taxes, 
or other rates, for building or repairing places of worship, 
or the maintenance of any minister or ministry. 

Sec. 4. No religious test shall be required as a quali- 
fication for any office of public trust, and no person 
shall be deprived of any of his rights, privileges or 
capacities, or disqualified lrom the performance of any of 
his public or private duties, or rendered incompetent to 
give evidence in any court of law or equity, in conse- 
quence of his opinions on the subject of religion; and 
any party to any judicial proceeding shall have the 
right to use as a witness, or take the testimony of, any 
other person, not disqualified on account of interest, 
who may be cognizant of any fact material to the case; 
and parties to suits may be witnesses, as provided by law. 

Sec. 5. Any citizen of this State who may here- 
after be engaged, either directly or indirectly, in a duel, 
either as principal or accessory before the fact, shall 
forever be disqualified from holding any office under the 
constitution and laws of this State. 

Sec. 6. All laws of a general nature shall have a 
uniform operation; the General Assembly shall not 
grant to any citizen or class of citizens, privileges or 
immunities, which upon the same terms shall not equally 
belong to all citizens. 

Sec. 7. Every person may speak, write and publish 
his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the 



Rights of 
persons. 



Political 
power. 



Religion. 



Religio 

test. 



Duelling-. 



Laws ui 
form. 



Liberty of 
speech and 
press. 



24 CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 

abuse of that right. No law shall be passed to restrain 
or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all 
prosecutions or indictments for libel, the truth may be 
given in evidence to the jury, and if it appear to the jury 
that the matter charged as libelous was true, and was 
published with good motives and for justifiable ends, 
the party shall be acquitted. 

Personal se- Sec. 8. The right of the people to be secure in their 

persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable 
seizures and searches shall not be violated ; and no war- 
rant shall issue but on probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to 
be searched, and the persons and things to be seized. 

Trial by jury. Sec. 9- The right of trial by jury shall remain in- 

violate; but the General Assembly may authorize trial 
by a jury of a less number than twelve men in inferior 
courts; but no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, 
or property, without due process of law. 

Rights of per- Sec. io. In all criminal prosecutions, and in cases 

involving the life or liberty of an individual, the accused 
shall have a right to a speedy and public trial by an im- 
partial jury; to be informed of the accusation against 
him; to have a copy .of the same when demanded; to 
be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have 
compulsory process for his witnesses ; and to have the 
assistance of counsel. 

Sec. ii. All offenses less than felony, and in which 
the punishment does not exceed a fine of one hundred 
dollars, or imprisonment for thirty days, shall be tried 
summarily before a Justice of the Peace, or other officer 
authorized by law, on information under oath, without 
indictment, or the intervention of a grand jury, saving 
to the defendant the right of appeal; and no person shall 
be held to answer for any higher criminal offense, unless 
on presentment or indictment by a grand jury, except in 
cases arising in the army or navy, or m the militia, when 
in actual service, in time of war or public danger. 

Sec. 12. No person shall, after acquittal; be tried 
for the same offense. All persons shall, before convic- 
tion be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital 



sons accused. 



Twice tried. 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



offenses, where the proof is evident, or the presumption 
great. 

Sec. 13. The writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
suspended, or refused when application is made as re- 
quired by law, unless in case of rebellion or invasion, 
the public safety may require it. 

Sec. 14. The military shall be subordinate to the 
civil power. No standing army shall be kept up by the 
State in time of peace; and in time of war, no appro- 
priation for a standing army shall be for a longer time 
than two years. 

Sec. 15. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quar- 
tered in any house without the consent of the owner, 
nor in time of war except in the manner prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 16. Treason against the State shall consist 
only in levying war against it, adhering to its enemies, 
or giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be con- 
victed of treason, unless on the evidence of two wit- 
nesses to the same overt act, or confession in open court. 

Sec. 17. Excessive bail shall not be required; ex- 
cessive fines shall not be imposed, and cruel and unusual 
punishment shall not be inflicted. 

Sec. 18. Private property shall not be taken for 
public use without just compensation first being made, 
or secured to be made, to the owner thereof, as soon as 
the damages shall be assessed by a jury, who shall not 
take into consideration any advantages that may result 
to said owner on account of the improvement for which 
it is taken. 

Sec. 19. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in 
any civil action, on mesne or final process, unless in 
case of fraud; and no person shall be imprisoned for a 
military fine in time of peace. 

Sec. 20. The people have the right freely to assem- 
ble together to counsel for the common good; to make 
known their opinions to their representatives, and to 
petition for a redress of grievances. 

Sec. 21. No bill of attainder, ex-post-facto law, or 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be 
passed. 



Habeas cor- 
pus. 



Military. 



Quartering 
troops. 



Bail punish- 
ment. 



property. 



Imprisonment 
for debt. 






26 



CONSTITUTION OP IOWA. 



Aliens hold 
property. 



Slavery. 



Adjourn- 
ments. 



Privileges. 



Exception. 



Dept's of 
government. 



Sec. 22. Foreigners who are, or may hereafter be- 
come residents of this State, shall enjoy the same rights 
in respect to the possession, enjoyment, and descent of 
property, as native-born citizens. 

Sec 23. There shall be no slavery in this State; 
nor shall there be involuntary servitude, unless for the 
punishment of crime. 

Sec. 24. No lease or grant of agricultural lands, 
reserving any rent or service of any kind, shall be valid 
for a longer period than twenty years. 

Sec. 25. The enumeration of rights shall not be 
construed to impair or deny others, retained by the peo- 
ple. 

ARTICLE II.— RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE. 

Section i. Every male citizen of the United States, 
of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a 
resident of this State six months next preceding the 
election, and of the county in which he claims his vote, 
sixty days, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which 
are now or hereafter may be authorized by law. 

Sec. 2. Electors shall, in all cases except treason, 
felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest 
on the days of election, during their attendance at such 
elections, going to and returning therefrom. 

Sec. 3. No elector shall be obliged to perform mili- 
tary duty on the day of election, except in time of war 
or public danger. 

Sec. 4. No person in the military, naval, or marine 
service of the United States shall be considered a resi- 
dent of this State by being stationed in any garrison, 
barrack, or military or naval place or station within this 
State. 

Sec. 5. No idiot or insane person, or person con- 
victed of any infamous crime, shall be entitled to the 
privilege of an elector. 

Sec. 6. All elections by the people shall be by bal- 
lot. 

ARTICLE III.— OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF 
POWERS. 

Section i. The powers of the government of Iowa 
shall be divided into three separate departments : The 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA, 



27 



Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial; and no per- 
son charged with the exercise of powers properly belong- 
ing to one of these departments shall exercise any 
function appertaining to either of the others, except in 
cases hereinafter expressly directed or permitted. 
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section i. The Legislative authority of this State 
shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall con- 
sist of a Senate and House of Representatives; and the 
style of every law shall be: " Be it enacted by the Gen- 
eral Assembly of the State of Iotva." 

Sec. 2. The sessions of the General Assembly shall 
be biennial, and shall commence on the second Monday 
in January next ensuing the election of its members; 
unless the Governor of the State shall, in the mean- 
time, convene the General Assembly by proclamation. 

Sec. 3. The members of the House ot Representa- 
tives shall be chosen every second year, by the qualified 
electors of their respective districts, on the second Tues- 
day in October, except the years of the Presidential 
election, when the election shall be on the Tuesday next 
after the first Monday in November ; and their term of 
office shall commence on the first day of January next 
after their election, and continue two years, and until 
their successors are elected and qualified. 

Sec. 4. No person shall be a member of the House 
of Representatives who shall not have attained the age 
of twenty-one years, be a male citizen of the United 
States, and shall have been an inhabitant of this State 
one year next preceding his election, and at the time of 
his election shall have had an actual residence of sixty 
days in the county or district he may have been chosen 
to represent. 

Sec. 5. Senators shall be chosen for the term of 
four years, at the same time and place as Representa- 
tives; they shall be twenty-five years of age, and possess 
the qualifications of Representatives as to residence and 
citizenship. 

Sec. 6. The number of Senators shall not be less 
than one-third nor more than one-half the Representa- 
tive body; and shall be so classified by lot, that one 



Members of 
house of rep- 
resentatives. 



Eligibility 



Same — 
classed. 



28 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Elections de- 
termined. 



Authority of 
the House. 



Privilege. 



Doors open. 



class being as nearly one-half as possible, shall be 
elected every two years. ' When the number of Sena- 
tors is increased, they shall be annexed by lot to one or 
the other of the two classes, so as to keep them as nearly 
equal in numbers as practicable. 

Sec. 7. Each House shall choose its own officers, 
and judge of the qualification, election and return of its 
own members. A contested election shall be determined 
in such manner as shall be directed by law. 

Sec. 8. A majority of each House shall constitute 
a quorum to transact business; but a smaller number 
may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the 
attendance of absent members in such manner and 
under such penalties as each House may provide. 

Sec. 9. Each House shall sit upon its own adjourn- 
ments, keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the 
same; determine its rules of proceedings, punish mem- 
bers for disorderly behavior, and, with the consent of 
two-thirds, expel a member, but not a second time for 
the same offense; and shall have all other power neces- 
sary for a branch of the General Assembly of a free and 
independent State. 

Sec. 10. Every member of the General Assembly 
shall have the liberty of dissent from or protest against 
any act or resolution which he may think injurious to 
the public or an individual, and have the reasons for his 
dissent entered on the journals ; and the yeas and nays 
of the members of either House, on any question, shall, 
at the desire of any two members present, be entered 
on the journals. 

Sec 11. Senators and Representatives, in all cases, 
except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, shall be 
privileged trom arrest during the session of the General 
Assembly, and in going to and returning from the same. 

Sec. 12. When vacancies occur in either House, the 
Governor, or the person exercising the functions of Gov- 
ernor, shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

Sec 13. The doors of each House shall be open, 
except on such occasions as, in the opinion of the House, 
may require secrecy. 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



2 9 



Sec. 14. Neither House shall, without the consent Adjournment. 
of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to 
any other place than that in which they may be sitting. 

Sec. 15. B lis may originate in either House, and Bills, 
may be amended, altered or rejected by the other; and 
every bill having passed both Houses, shall be signed by 
the Speaker and President of their respective Houses. 

Sec. .16. Every bill which shall have passed the Tobeapprov- 
General Assembly shall, before it becomes a law, be ea» etc - 
presented to the Governor. If he approve, he shall sign 
it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to 
the House in which it originated, which shall. enter the 
same upon their journal, and proceed to reconsider it; 
if, after such reconsideration, it again pass both Houses, 
by yeas and nays, by a majority of two-thirds of the 
members of each House, it shall become a law, notwith- 
standing the Governor's objections. If any bill shall 
not be returned within three days after it shall have been 
presented to him (Sunday excepted), the same shall be 
a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the 
General Assembly, by adjournment, prevent such return. 
Any bill submitted to the Governor for his approval 
during the last three days of a session of the General 
Assembly, shall be deposited by him in the office of the 
Secretary of. State within thirty days after the adjourn- 
ment, with his approval, if approved by him, and with 
his objections if he disapproves thereof. 

Sec. 17. No bill shall be passed unless by the assent Same. 
of a majority of all the members elected to each branch 
of the General Assembly, and the question upon the * 
final passage shall be taken immediately upon its last 
reading, and the yeas and nays entered upon the journal. 

Sec. 18. An accurate statement of the receipts and Receipts and 
expenditures of the public money shall be attached to expen( 
and published with the laws at every regular session of 
the General Assembly. 

Sec. 19. The House of Representatives shall have impeachment. 
the sole power of impeachment and all impeachments 
shall be tried by the Senate. When sitting for that pur- 
pose, the Senators shall be upon oath or affirmation ; and 






3° 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Who liable to 
judgment. 



Members not 
appointed to 
offices. 



Disqualifica- 
tion. 



Money drawn. 



Compensa- 
tion of mem' 
bers. 



no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of 
two-thirds of the members present. 

Sec. 20. The Governor, Judges of the Supreme 
and District Courts, and other State officers, shall be 
liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor or malfea- 
sance in office; but judgment in such cases shall extend 
only to removal from office and disqualification to hold 
any office of honor, trust, or profit under this State ; but 
the party convicted or acquitted shall nevertheless be 
liable to indictment, trial, and punishment according to 
law. All other civil officers shall be tried for misde- 
meanors and malfeasance in office, in such manner as 
the General Assembly may provide. 

Sec. 21. NoSenator or Representative shall, during 
the time for which he shall have been elected, be appointed 
to any civil office of profit under this State, which shall 
have been created or the emoluments of which shall 
have been increased during such term, except such 
offices as may be filled by elections by the people. 

Sec. 22. No person holding any lucrative office 
under the United States, or this State, or any other 
power, shall be eligible to hold a seat in the General 
Assembly ; but offices in the militia, to which there is 
attached no annual salary, or the office of justice of the 
peace, or postmaster, whose compensation does not 
exceed one hundred dollars per annum, or notary public, 
shall not be deemed lucrative. 

Sec. 23. No person who may hereafter be a collec- 
tor or holder of public moneys, shall have a seat in 
either House of the General Assembly, or be eligible to 
hold any office of trust or profit in this State, until he 
shall have accounted for and paid into the treasury all 
sums for which he may be liable. 

Sec. 24. No money shall be drawn from the treasury 
but in consequence of appropriations made by law. 

Sec 25. Each member of the first General Assem- 
bly under this Constitution shall receive three dollars 
per diem while in session; and the further sum of three 
dollars for every twenty miles traveled in going to and" 
returning from the place where such session is held, 
by the nearest traveled route; after which they shall 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



3 1 



receive such compensation as shall be fixed by law; but 
no General Assembly shall have the power to increase 
the compensation of its members. And when convened 
in extra session they shall receive the same mileage and 
per diem compensation as fixed by law for the regular 
session, and none other. 

Sec. 26. No law of the General Assembly, passed 
at a regular session, of a public nature, shall take effect 
until the fourth day of July next after the passage 
thereof. Laws passed at a special session shall take 
effect ninety days after the adjournment of the General 
Assembly by which they were passed. If the General 
Assembly shall deem any law of immediate importance, 
they maj' provide that the same shall take effect by 
publication in newspapers in the State. 

Sec. 27. No divorce shall be granted by the Gene- 
ral Assembly. 

Sec. 28. No lot'ery -shall be authorized by this 
State; nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed. 

Sec. 29. Every act shall embrace but one subject, 
and matters properly connected therewith, which subject 
shall be expressed in the title; but if any subject shall be 
embraced in an act which shall not be expressed in the 
title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof 
as shall not be expressed in the title. 

Sec. 30. The General Assembly shall not pass 
local or special laws in the following cases: 

For the assessment and collection of taxes for State, 
county, or road purposes ; 

For laying out, opening, and working roads or 
highways ; 

For changing the names of persons; 

For the incorporation of cities and towns; 

For vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys, or 
public squares; 

For locating or changing county seats. 

In all the cases above enumerated, and in all other 
cases where a general law can be made applicable, all 
law.s shall be general, and of uniform operation through- 
out the State ; and no law changing the boundary lines 
of any county shall have effect until, upon being submit- 



Publication. 
Divorce. 



Local or spec- 
ial laws. 



32 CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 

:ed to the people of the counties affected by the change, 
at a general election, it shall be approved by a majority 
of the votes in each county, cast for and against it. 

Extra com- Sec. 31. No extra compensation shall be made to 

pensa ion. ^^ officer, public agent, or contractor, after the service 
shall have been rendered, or the contract entered into; 
nor shall any money be paid on any claim, the subject 
matter of which shall not have been provided for by 
pre-existing laws, and no public money or property 
shall be appropriated for local or private purposes, unless 
such appropriation, compensation or claim be allowed 
by two-thirds of the members elected to each branch of 
the General Assembly. 

Oathofmero- Sec. 32. Members of the General Assembly shall, 

before they enter upon the duties of their respective 
offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirma- 
tion: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm as the case may be) 
that I will support the Constitution of the United States, 
and the constitution of the State of Iowa, and that I will 
faithfully discharge the duties of Senator (or Represen- 
tative, as the case may be), according to the best of my 
ability;" and members of the General Assembly are 
hereby empowered to administer to each other the «aid 
oath or affirmation. 

Census. Sec. 33. The General Assembly shall, in the years 

one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty -three, one thousand eight hun- 
dred and sixty-five, one thousand eight hundred and 
sixty-seven, one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
nine, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and 
every ten years thereafter, cause an enumeration to be 
made of all the inhabitants of the State. 

Apportionment. Sec. 34. The number of Senators shall, at the next 
session following each period of making such enumera- 
tion, and the next session following each United States 
census, be fixed by law, and apportioned among the 
several counties according to the number of inhabitants 
in each. 

Districts. Sec. 35. The Senate shall not consist of more than 

fifty members, nor the House of Representatives of 
more than one hundred ; and they shall be apportioned 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



33 



among the several counties and representative districts 
of the State according to the number of inhabitants in 
each, upon ratios to be fixed bj law; but no represen- 
tative district shall contain more than four organized 
counties, and each district shall be entitled to at least 
one Representative. Every county and district which 
shall have a number of inhabitants equal to one-half of 
the ratio fixed by law, shall be entitled to one Represen- 
tative; and any one county containing, in addition to 
the ratio fixed by law, one-half of that number, or more, 
shall be entitled to one additional Representative. No 
floating district shall hereafter be formed. 

Sec. 36. At its first session under this Constitution, Rates of rep 
and at every subsequent regular session, the General 
Assembly shall fix the ratio of representation, and also 
form into representative districts those counties which 
will not be entitled singly to a Representative. 

Sec. 37. When a Congressional, Senatorial, or Districts. 
Representative district shall be composed of two or 
more counties, it shall not be entirely separated by any 
county belonging to another district; and no county 
shall be divided in forming a Congressional, Senatorial, 
or Representative district. 

Sec. 38. In all elections by the General Assembly, 
the members thereof shall vote Viva Voce; and the 
votes shall be entered on the journal. 



Elections by- 
general as- 
sembly. 



ARTICLE IV.— EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 



Section i. The supreme executive power of this 
State shall be vested in a Chief Magistrate, who shall 
be styled the Governor of the State of Iowa. 

Sec. 2. The Governor shall be elected by the quali- 
fied electors at the time and place of voting for members 
of the General Assembly, and shall hold his office two 
years from the time of his installation, and until his 
successor is elected and qualified. 

Sec. 3. There shall be a Lieutenant-Governor, who 
shall hold his office two years, and be elected at the 
same time as the Governor. In voting for Governor 
and Lieutenant-Governor, the electors shall designate 
for whom they vote as Governor, and for whom as 



Election and 
term. 



Lieutenant 
Governor. 



34 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Returns of elec- 
tions. 



Contested 
elections. 



Eligibility. 



Command. 
Duties. 



Same. 
Vacancies. 



Convening' 
assembly. 



Lieutenant-Governor. The returns of every election 
for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall be sealed 
u and transmitted ' to the seat of Government of the 
State, directed to the Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, who shall open and publish them in the pres- 
ence of both Houses of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 4. The persons respectively having the highest 
number of votes for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor 
shall be declared duly elected; but in case two or more 
persons shall have an equal, and the highest number of 
votes for either office, the General Assembly shall, by 
joint vote, forthwith proceed to elect one of said persons 
Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor, as the case may be. 

Sec. 5. 'Contested elections for Governor or Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, shall be determined by the General 
Assembly in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 6. No person shall be eligible to the office of 
Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, who shall not have 
been a citizen of the United States and a resident of the 
State two years next preceding the election, and attained 
the age of thirty years at the time of said election. 

Sec. 7. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief 
of Ihe militia, the army and navy of this State. 

Sec 8. He shall transact all executive business with 
the officers of government, civil and military, and may 
require information in writing from the officers of the 
Executive Department upon any subject relating to the 
duties of their respective offices. 

Sec. 9. He shall take care that the laws are faith- 
fully executed. 

Sec 10. When any office shall, from any cause, 
become vacant, and no mode is provided by the Consti- 
stution and laws for filling such vacancy, the Governor 
shall have power to fill such vacancy by granting a com- 
mission, which shall expire at the end of the next session 
of the General Assembly, or at the next election by the 
people. 

Sec 11. He may, on extraordinary occasions, con- 
vene the General Assembly by proclamation, and shall 
state to both Houses, when assembled, the purpose for 
which they shall have been convened. 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



35 



Disqualifica- 
tion. 



Sec. 12. He shall communicate, by message, to the Message. 
General Assembly, at every regular session, the condi- 
tion of the State, and recommend such matters as he 
shall deem expedient. 

Sec. 13. In case of disagreement between the two Adjournment 
Houses with respect to the time of adjournment, the 
Governor shall have power to adjourn the General As- 
sembly to such time as he may think proper; but no ' 
such adjournment shall be beyond the time fixed for the 
regular meeting of the next General Assembly. 

Sec. 14. No person shall, while holding any office 
under the authority of the United States, or this State, 
execute the office of Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, 
except as hereinafter expressly provided. 

Sec. 15. The official term of the Governor and Lieu- Term. 
tenant-Governor, shall commence on the second Monday 
of January next after their election, and continue for two 
years, and until their successors are elected and qualified. 
The Lieutenant-Governor, while acting as Governor, 
shall receive the same pay as provided for Governor; 
and while presiding in the Senate, shall receive as com- 
pensation therefor the same mileage and double the per 
diem pay provided for a Senator, and none other. 

Sec. 16. The Governor shall have power to grant Pardons, etc. 
reprieves, commutations and pardons, after conviction, 
for all offenses except treason and cases of impeach- 
ment, subject to such regulations as maybe provided by 
law. Upon conviction for treason, he shall have power 
to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case 
shall be reported to the General Assembly at its next 
meeting, when the General Assembly shall either grant 
a pardon, commute the sentence, direct the execution of 
the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He shall have 
power to remit fines and forfeitures, under such regula- 
tions as may be prescribed by law; and shall report to 
the General Assembly, at its next meeting, each case of 
reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, and the reason 
therefor; and also all persons in whose favor remission 
of fines and forfeitures shall have been made, and the 
several amounts remitted. 






3« 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Lieutenant 
act as gov- 
ernor. 



Further va- 
cancies pro- 
vided for. 



Commissions, 
etc. 



Secretary, 
Auditor, 
and Treas- 



Sec. 17. In case of the death, impeachment, resig- 
nation, removal from office, or other disability of the 
Governor, the powers and duties of the office for the 
residue of the term, or until he shall be acquitted, or the 
disability removed, shall devolve upon the Lieutenant- 
Governor. 

Sec. 18. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be Presi- 
dent of the Senate, but shall only vote when the Senate 
is equally divided ; and in case of his absence or impeach- 
ment, or when he shall exercise the office of Governor, 
the Senate shall choose a President pro tempore. 

Sec. 19. If the Lieutenant-Governor, while acting 
as Governor, shall be impeached, displaced, resign or 
die, or otherwise become incapable of performing the 
duties of the office, the President pro tempore of the 
Senate shall act as Governor until the vacancy is filled, 
or the disability removed ; and if the President of the 
Senate, for any of the above causes, shall be rendered 
incapable of performing the duties pertaining to the 
office of Governor, the same shall devolve upon the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Sec. 20. There shall be a seal of this State, which 
shall be kept by the Governor, and used by him officially, 
and shall be called the Great Seal of the State of Iowa. 

Sec. 21. All grants and commissions shall be in the 
name and by the authority of the people of the State of 
Iowa, sealed with the Great Seal of the State, signed by 
the Governor, and countersigned by the Secretary of 
State. 

Sec. 22. A Secretary of State, Auditor of State, and 
Treasurer of State, shall be elected by the qualified 
electors, who shall continue in office two years, and 
until their successors are elected and qualified, and per- 
form such duties as may be required by law. 

ARTICLE V.— JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

Section i. The Judicial power shall be vested in a 
Supreme Court, District Court, and such other Courts, 
inferior to the Supreme Court, as the General Assembly 
may, from time to time, establish. 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



37 



Sec. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of three Supreme 

u court. 

Judges, two of whom shall constitute a quorum to hold 

Court. 

Sec. 3. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be Ju ^g e J ed 
elected by the qualified electors of the State, and shall 
hold their Court at such time and place as the General 
Assembly may prescribe. The Judges of the Supreme 
Court, so elected, shall be classified so that one Judge 
shall go out of office every two years; and the Judge 
holding the shortest term of office, under such classifica- 
tion, shall be Chief Justice of the Court during his term, 
and so on in rotation. After the expiration of their terms 
•of office, under such classification, the term of each 
Judge of the Supreme Court shall be six years, and 
until his successor shall have been elected and qualified. 
The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be ineligible to 
any other office in the State during the term for which 
they have been elected. 

Sec. 4. The Supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, 
jurisdiction only in cases in chancery, and shall consti- 
tute a Court for the correction of errors at law, under 
such restrictions as the General Assembly may by law 
prescribe; and shall have power to issue all writs and 
process necessary to secure justice to parties, and exercise 
a supervisory control over all inferior judicial tribunals 
throughout the State. 

Sec. 5. The District Court shall consist of a single 
Judge, who shall be elected by the qualified electors of 
the District in which he resides. The Judge of the 
District Court shall hold his office for the term of four 
years, and until his successor shall have been elected and 
qualified; and shall be ineligible to any other office, 
except that of Judge of the Supreme Court, during the 
term for which he was elected. 



District judg- 
es elected. 



Sec. 6. The District Court shall be a Court of law 
and equity, which shall be distinct and separate jurisdic- 
tions, and have jurisdiction in civil and criminal 
matters arising in their respective districts in such 
manner as shall be prescribed by law. 



Jurisdiction 



3§ 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Conservators 
of the 
peace. 



Style of pro- 
cess. 



Judicial dis- 
tricts. 



When chosen. 



Attorney-gen- 
eral. 



Elected; dis- 
qualification. 



Sec. 7. The Judges of the Supreme and District 
Courts shall be conservators of the peace throughout 
the State. 

Sec. 8. The style of all process shall be, " The 
State of Iowa," and all prosecutions shall be conducted 
in the name and by the authority of the same. 

Sec. 9. The salary of each Judge of the Supreme 
Court shall be two thousand per annum, and that of 
each District Judge one thousand six hundred dollars 
per annum, until the year eighteen hundred and sixty; 
after which time they shall severally receive such com- 
pensation as the General Assembly may, by law, 
prescribe, which compensation shall not be increased or 
diminished during the term for which they shall have 
been elected. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into eleven 
Judicial Districts, and after the year eighteen hundred 
and sixty, the General Assembly may reorganize the 
Judicial Districts, and increase or diminish the number 
of Districts, or the number of Judges of the said Court, 
and may increase the number of Judges of the Supreme 
Court; but such increase or diminution shall not be 
more than one District, or one Judge* of either Court, 
at any one session, and no reorganization of the Districts, 
or dimunition of the number of Judges, shall have the 
effect of removing a Judge from office. Such reorgani- 
zation of the Districts, or any change in the boundaries 
thereof, or increase or dimunition of the number of 
Judges, shall take place every four years thereafter, if 
necessary, and at no other time. 

Sec. 11. The Judges of the Supreme and District 
Courts shall be chosen at the general election ; and the 
term of office of each Judge shall commence on the first 
day of January next after his election. 

Sec. 12. The General Assembly shall provide by 
law for the election of an Attorney- General by the 
people, whose term of office shall be two years, and 
until his successor shall have been elected and qualified. 

Sec. 13. The qualified electors of each Judicial 
District shall, at the time of the election of District 
Judge, elect a District Attorney, who shall be a resident 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Duty of gen 
eral assem 
bly. 



Who consti- 
tute. 



of the District for which he is elected, and who shall 
hold his office for the term of four years, and until his 
successor shall have been elected and qualified. 

Sec. 14. It shall be the duty of the General Assem- 
bly to provide for the carrying into effect of this article, 
and to provide for a general system of practice in all the 
Courts of this State. 

ARTICLE VI.— MILITIA. 
Section i. The militia of this State shall be com- 
posed of all able-bodied male citizens between the ages 
of eighteen and forty-five years, except such as are, or 
may hereafter be, exempt by the laws of the United 
States, or of this state, and shall be armed, equipped, 
and trained, as the General Assembly may provide by 
law. 

Sec. 2. No person or persons conscientiously scru- Qualifica 
pulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to do military 
duty in time of peace; Provided, that such person or 
persons shall pay an equivalent for such exemption in 
the same manner as other citizens. 

Sec. 3. All commissioned officers of the militia (staff Officers, 
officers excepted) shall be elected by persons liable to 
perform military duty, and shall be commissioned by the 
Governor. 

ARTICLE VII— STATE DEBTS. 
Section i. The credit of the State shall not, in any 
manner, be given or loaned to, or in aid of, any individ- 
ual, association or corporation; and the State shall never 
assume, or become responsible for, the debts or liabilities 
of any individual, association, or corporation, unless 
incurred in time of war for the benefit of the State. 

Sec. 2. The State may contract debts to supply 
casual deficits or failures in revenues, or to meet expen- 
ses not otherwise provided for ; but the aggregate amount 
of such debts, direct and contingent, whether contracted 
by virtue of one or more acts of the General Assembly, 
or at different periods of time, shall never exceed the 
sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the 
money arising from the creation of such debts shall be 
applied to the purpose for which it was obtained, or to 



Limitation of 
State in- 
debtedness. 



4o 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Losses to 
school -fund 
audited. 



For what 
other pur- 
pose State 



(a). Other 
debts to be 
authorized 
by special 
law. 



fl>). Submit- 
ted to the 
people. 



repay the debts so contracted, and to no other purpose 
whatever. 

Sec. 3. All losses to the Permanent, School, or 
University fund of this State, which shall have been 
occasioned by the defalcation, mismanagement or fraud 
of the agents or officers controlling and managing the 
same, shall be audited by the proper authorities of the 
State. The amount so audited shall be a permanent 
funded debt against the State, in favor of the respective 
fund, sustaining the loss, upon which not less than six 
per cent, annual interest shall be paid. The amount of 
liability so created shall not be counted as a part of the 
indebtedness authorized by the second section of this 
article. 

Sec. 4. In addition to the above limited power to 
contract debts, the State may contract debts to repel 
invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State in 
war; but the money arising from the debts so contracted 
shall be applied to the purpose for which it was raised, 
or to repay such debts, and to no other purpose what- 
ever. 

Sec. 5. Except the debts hereinbefore specified in 
this article, no debt shall be hereafter contracted oy or 
on behalf of this State, unless such debt, shall be autho- 
rized by some law for some single work or object, to be 
distinctly specified therein ; and such law shall impose 
and provide for the collection of a direct annual tax, 
sufficient to pay the interest on such debt, as it falls due, 
and also to pay and discharge the principal of such debt, 
within twenty years from the time of the contracting 
thereof; but no such law shall take effect until, at a gen- 
eral election, it shall have been submitted to the people, 
and have received a majority of all the votes cast for and 
against it at such election; and all money raised by 
authority of such law, shall be applied only to the 
specific object therein stated, or to the payment of the 
debt created thereby; and such law shall be published in 
at least one newspaper in each county, if one is pub- 
lished therein, throughout the State, for three months 
preceding the election at which it is submitted to the 
people. 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



4 1 



Sec. 6. The Legislature may, at any time after the Legislature 



approval of such law by the people, if no debt shall have 
been contracted in pursuance thereof, repeal the same, 
and may at any time forbid the contracting of any 
further debt or liability under such law; but the tax 
imposed by such law, in proportion to the debtor liability 
which may have been contracted in pursuance thereof, 
shall remain in force and be irrepealable, and be annually 
collected, until the principal and interest are fully paid. 
Sec. 7. Every law which imposes, continues, or 
revives a tax, shall distinctly state the tax, and the object 
to which it is to be applied ; and it shall not be sufficient 
to refer to any other law to fix such tax or object. 

ARTICLE VIII.— CORPORATIONS. 

Section i. No corporation shall be created by 
special laws; but the General Assembly shall provide, 
by general laws, for the organization of all corporations 
hereafter to be created, except as hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 2. The property for all corporations for pecu- 
niary profit shall be subject to taxation, the same as that 
of individuals. 

Sec. 3. The State shall not become a stockholder in 
any corporation, nor shall it assume or pay the debt or 
liability of any corporation, unless incurred in time of 
war, for the benefit of the State. 

Sec. 4. No political or municipal corporation shall 
become a stockholder in any banking corporation, 
directly or indirectly. 

Sec. 5. No act of the General Assembly, authoriz- 
ing or creating corporations or associations with bank- 
ing powers, nor amendments thereto, shall take effect or 
in any manner be in force, until the same shall have 
been submitted, separately, to the people, at a general or 
special election, as provided by law, to be held not less 
than three months after the passage of the act, and shall 
have been approved by a majority of all the electors 
voting for and against it at such election. 

Sec. 6. Subject to the provisions of the foregoing 
section, the General Assembly may also provide for the 
establishment of a State Bank, with branches. 



ay repeal. 



Tax imposed 
distinctly 
stated. 



Corporations, 
how cre- 
ated. 



Property tax- 
able. 



State not to be 
astockhold- 



Corporation 
not to be a 
stockholder. 



Act creating- 
corporation 
submitted tc 
the people. 



4 2 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Founded on 
specie basis. 



General bank- 
ing- law to 
provide for. 



Stockholders 
responsible. 



Bill holders to 
have prefer- 
ence. 

Suspension of 
specie pay- 
ment. 



General as- 
sembly may 
amend or re- 
peal by two- 
thirds vote. 



Sec. 7. If a State Bank be established, it shall be 
founded on an actual specie basis, and the branches shall 
be mutually responsible for each others liabilities upon 
all notes, bills, and other issues intended for circulation 
as money. 

Sec. 8. If a general banking law shall be enacted, 
it shall provide for the registry and countersigning, by 
an officer of State, of all bills or paper credit designed 
to circulate as money, and require security to the full 
amount thereof, to be deposited with the State Treasurer, 
in United States stocks, or in interest paying stocks of 
States in good credit and standing, t«> be rated at ten per 
cent, below their average value in the city of New York, 
for the thirty days next preceding their deposit; and in 
case of a depreciation of any portion of such stocks, to 
the amount of ten per cent, on the dollar, the bank or 
banks owning said stocks shall be required to make up 
said deficiency by depositing additional stocks; and said 
law shall also provide for the recording of the names of 
all stockholders in such corporations, the amount of 
stock held by each, the time o$ any transfer and to 
•whom. 

Sec. 9. Every stockholder in a banking corporation 
or institution shall be individually responsible and liable 
to its creditors, over and above the amount of stock by 
him or her held, to an amount equal to his or her 
respective shares so held, for all of its liabilities, accru- 
ing while he or she remains such stockholder. 

Sec. 10. In case of the insolvency of any banking 
institution, the bill holders shall have a preference over 
its other creditors. 

Sec. 11. The suspension of specie payments by 
banking institutions shall never be permitted or sanc- 
tioned. 

Sec. 12. Subject to the provisions of this article, 
the General Assembly shall have power to amend or 
repeal all laws for the organization or creation of corpo- 
rations, or granting of special or exclusive privileges or 
immunities, by a vote of two- thirds of each branch of 
the General Assembly; and no exclusive privileges, 
except as in this article provided, shall ever be granted. 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



43 



ARTICLE IX.- 



- EDUCATION AND SCHOOL 
LANDS. 



FIRST EDUCATION. 



Board of edu- 
cation. 



How elected; 
how divided. 



Section i. The educational interest of the State, 
including Common Schools and other educational institu- 
tions, shall be under the management of a Board of Edu- 
cation, which shall consist of the Lieutenant-Governor. 
who shall be the presiding officer of the Board, and 
have the casting vote in case of a tie, and one member 
to be elected from each judicial district in the State. 

Sec. 2. No person shall be eligible as a member of Who eligible, 
said Board who shall not have attained the age of twenty- 
five years, and shall have been one year a citizen of the 
State. 

Sec. 3. One member of said Board shall be chosen 
by the qualified electors of each district, and shall hold 
the office for the term of four years, and until his suc- 
cessor is elected and qualified. After the first election 
under this Constitution, the Board shall be divided, as 
nearly as practicable, into two equal classes, and the 
seats of the first class shall be vacated after the expira- 
tion of two years, and one-half of the Board shall be 
chosen every two years thereafter. 

Sec. 4. The first session of the Board of Education 
shall be held at the Seat of Government, on the first 
Monday of December after their election, after which 
the General Assembly^ may fix the time and place of 
meeting. 

Sec. 5. The session of the Board shall be limited to 
twenty days, and but one session shall be held in any 
one year, except upon extraordinary occasions, when, 
upon the recommendation of two-thirds of the Board, 
the Governor may order a special session. 

Sec. 6. The Board of Education shall appoint a 
Secretary who shall be the executive officer of the Board, 
and perform such duties as may be imposed upon him by 
the Board, and the laws of the State. They shall keep 
a journal of their proceedings, which shall be published 
and distributed in the same manner as the journals of 
the General Assembly. 



First session 
held. 



Limited to 
twenty days. 



Secretary. 



44 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Rules and 
regulations 
ofboard. 



Powers: rules, 
how repeal- 
ed. 



Governor, ex- 
officio, a 
member. 

Contingent. 



State Univer- 
sity. 



Board of Edu- 
cation to 
provide for 
education of 
youths of 
the State. 



Compensation. 



Quorum; style 
of acts. 



Sec. 7. All rules and regulations made by the Board 
shall be published and distributed to the several counties, 
townships, and school districts, as may be provided for 
by the Board, and when so made, published, and distrib- 
uted, they shall have the force and effect of law. 

Sec. 8. The Board of Education shall have full 
power and authority to legislate and make all needful 
rules and regulations in relation to Common Schools, 
and other educational institutions that are instituted, to 
receive aid from the School or University fund of this 
State; but all acts, rules and regulations of said Board 
may be altered, amended, or repealed by the General 
Assembly, and when so altered, amended, or repealed, 
they shall not be re-enacted by the Board of Education. 

Sec. 9. The Governor of the State shall be, ex-officio, 
a member of said Board. 

Sec. 10. The Board shall have no power to levy 
taxes, or make appropriations of money. Their contin- 
gent expenses shall be provided for by the General 
Assembly. 

Sec. 11. The State University shall be established 
at one place without branches at any other place, and 
the University fund shall be applied to that institution 
and no other. 

Sec. 12. The Board of Education shall provide for 
the education of all the youths of the State, through a 
system of common schools, and such schools shall be 
organized and kept in each school district at least three 
months in each year. Any district failing, for two con- 
secutive years, to organize and keep up a school, as 
aforesaid, may be deprived of their portion of the school 
fund. 

Sec. 13. The members of the Board of Education 
shall each receive the same per diem during the time of 
their session, and mileage going to and returning there- 
from, as members of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 14. A majority of the Board shall constitute 
a quorum for the transaction of bvisiness ; but no rule, 
regulation, or law for the government of common schools 
or other educational institutions shall pass without the 
concurrence of a majority of all the members of the 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



45 



Board, which shall be expressed by the j-eas and nays on 
the final passage. The style of all acts of the Board 
shall be: " Be it enacted by the Board of Education of 
the State of Iowa." 

Sec. 15. At any time after the year one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-three, the General Assembly 
shall have power to abolish or reorganize said Board of 
Education, and provide for the educational interests of 
the State in any other manner that to them shall seem 
best and proper. 

SECOND — SCHOOL FUNDS AND SCHOOL LANDS. 

Section i. The educational and school funds and 
lands shall be under the control and management of the 
General Assembly of this State. 

Sec. 2. The University lands, and the proceeds 
thereof, and all moneys belonging to said fund shall be 
a permanent fund for the sole use of the State Univer- 
sity. The interest arising from the same shall be annu- 
ally appropriated for the support and benefit of said 
University. 

Sec. 3. The General Assembly shall encourage, by 
all suitable means, the promotion of intellectual, scien- 
tific, moral, and agricultural improvement. The pro- 
ceeds of all lands that have been, or hereafter may be, 
granted by the United States to this State, for the sup- 
port of schools, which may have been or shall hereafter 
be sold or disposed of, and the five hundred thousand 
acres of land granted to the new States, under an act of 
Congress, distributing the proceeds of the public lands 
among the several States of the Union, approved in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
one, and all estates of deceased persons who may have 
died without leaving a will or heir, and also such per 
cent, as has been or may hereafter be granted by Con- 
gress, on the sale of lands in this State, shaU be and 
remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which, together 
with all rents of the unsold lands, and such other means 
as the General Assembly may provide, shall be inviola- 
bly appropriated to the support of common schools 
throughout the State. 



When Board 
may be 
abolished. 



Under control 
of General 
Assembly. 



Permanent 
fund. 



Lands appro- 
priated to 
educational 



4 6 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Fines and for- 
feiture-, 
. how appro- 
priated. 



(a). Lands re- 
served or 
f granted, or 
unds accru- 
ing from 
sale thereof, 
to he a per- 
manent fund. 



(b). Interest 
applied. 



Who agents 
of school 
funds. 



Money to be 
distributed. 



Sfc. 4. The money which may have been or shall 
be paid by persons as an equivalent from exemption 
from military duty, and the clear proceeds of all fines 
collected in the several counties for any breach of the 
penal laws, shall be exclusively applied, in the several 
counties in which such money is paid, or fine collected, 
among the several school districts of said counties, in 
proportion to the number of youths subject to enumera- 
tion in such districts, to the support of common schools, 
or the establishment of libraries, as the Board of Educa- 
tion shall from time to time provide. 

Sec. 5. The General Assembly shall take measures 
for the protection, improvement, or other disposition of 
such lands as have been, or may hereafter be, reserved, 
or granted by the United States, or any person or per- 
sons, to this State, for the use of the University, and the 
funds accruing from the rents or sale of such lands, or 
from any other source for the purpose aforesaid, shall be 
and remain a permanent fund, the interest of which 
shall be applied to the support of said University, for the 
promotion of literature, the arts and sciences, as may be 
authorized by the terms of such grant; and it shall be 
the duty of the General Assembly, as soon as may be, 
to provide effectual means for the improvement and 
permanent security of the funds of said University. 

Sec. 6. The financial agents of the school funds 
shall be the same that by law receive and control the 
State and county revenue, for other civil purposes, under 
such regulations as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 7. The money subject to the support and 
maintenance of common schools shall be distributed to 
the districts in proportion to the number of youths 
between the ages of five and twenty-one years, in such 
manner as may be provided by the General Assembly. 

ARTIGLE X.— AMENDMENTS TO THE CON- 
STITUTION. 

Section i. Any amendment or amendments to this 
Constitution may be proposed in either House of the 
General Assembly ; and if the same shall be agreed to 
by a majority of the members elected to each of the two 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



47 



Houses, such proposed amendment shall be entered on 
their journals, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, 
and referred to the Legislature to be chosen at the next 
general election, and shall be published, as provided by 
law, for three months previous to the time of making 
such choice; and if, in the General Assembly so next 
chosen as aforesaid, such proposed amendment or amend- 
ments shall be agreed to, by a majority of all the mem- 
bers elected to each House, then it shall be the duty of 
the General Assembly to submit such proposed amend- 
ment or amendments to the people in such manner and 
at such time as the General Assembly shall provide; 
and if the people shall approve and ratify such amend- 
ment or amendments by a majority of the electors quali- 
fied to vote for members of the General Assembly, 
voting thereon, such amendment or amendments shall 
become apart of the Constitution of this State. 

" Sec. 2. If two or more amendments shall be sub- 
mitted at the same time, they shall be submitted in such 
manner that the electors shall vote for or against each 
of such amendments separately. 

Sec. 3. At the general election to be held in the 
year one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and in 
each tenth year thereafter, and also at such times as the 
General Assembly may by law provide, the question, 
" Shall there be a Convention to revise the Constitution 
and amend the same?" shall be decided by the electors 
qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly; 
and in case a majority of the electors so qualified, voting 
at such election for and against such proposition, shall 
decide in favor of a Convention for such purpose, the 
General Assembly, at its next session, shall provide by 
law for the election of delegates to such Convention. 



More thai 
one. 



ARTICLE XI.— MISCELLANEOUS. 



Section i. The jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace 
shall extend to all civil cases (except cases in chancery, 
and cases where the question of title to real estate may 
arise) where the amount in controversy does not exceed 
one hundred dollars, and by the consent of parties may 



Jurisdiction 
of Justice of 
the Peace, 



48 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



ro what amount 
counties may 
become in- 
debted. 



Boundaries. 
Oath of office. 



How vacancies 
filled. 



How lands 
granted may 
be located. 



Seat of gov- 
ernment. 



be extended to any amount not exceeding three hundred 
dollars. 

Sec. 2." No new county shall be hereafter created 
containing less than four hundred and thirty-two square 
miles, nor shall the territory of any organized county be 
reduced below that area, except the county of Worth, 
and the counties west of it, along the northern boundary 
of this State may be organized without additional terri- 
tory. 

Sec. 3. No county, or other political or municipal 
corporation, shall be allowed to become indebted, in any 
manner or for any purpose, to an amount, in the aggre- 
gate, exceeding five per centum of the value of the taxa- 
ble property within such county or corporation — to be 
ascertained by the last State and county tax lists, pre- 
vious to the incurring of such indebtednsss. 

Sec. 4. The boundaries of the State may be enlarged, 
with the consent of Congress and the General Assembly. 

Skc. 5. Every person elected or appointed to any 
office, shall, before entering upon the duties thereof, 
take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution 
of the United States, and of this State, and also an oath 
of office. 
. Sec. 6. In all cases of elections to fill vacancies in 
office occurring before the expiration of a full term, the 
person so elected shall hold for the residue of the unex- 
pired term; and all. persons appointed to fill vacancies 
in office shall hold until the next general election, and 
until their successors are elected and qualified. 

Sec. 7. The General Assembly shall not locate any 
of the public lands which have been or may be granted 
by Congress to this State, and the location of which 
may be given to the General Assembly, upon lands 
actually settled, without the consent of the occupant. 
The extent of the claim of such occupant so exempted 
shall not exceed thre* hundred and twenty acres. 

Sec. 8. The seat of government is hereby perma- 
nently established, as now fixed by law, at the ciy of 
Des Moines, in the county of Polk; and the State Uni- 
versity at Iowa City, in the county of Johnson. 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



49 



ARTICLE XII.— SCHEDULE. 

Section i. The Constitution shall be the supreme 
law of the State, and any law inconsistent therewith 
shall be void. The General Assembly shall pass all 
laws necessary to carry this Constitution into effect. 

Sec. 2. All laws now in force and not inconsistent 
with this Constitution, shall remain in force until they 
shall expire or be repealed. 

Sec. 3. All indictments, prosecutions, suits, pleas, 
plaints, process, and other proceedings pending in any 
of the courts, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and 
execution; and all appeals, writs of error, certiorari and 
injunctions, shall be carried on in the several courts, in 
the same manner as now provided by law, and all offen- 
ses, misdemeanors and crimes that may have been com- 
mitted before the taking effect of this Constitution, shall 
be subject to indictment, trial and punishment, in the 
same manner as they would have been had not this Con- 
stitution been made. 

Sec. 4. All fines, penalties, or forfeitures due, or to 
become due, or accruing to the State, or to any county 
therein, or to the school fund, shall inure to the State, 
county, or school fund, in the manner prescribed by law. 

Sec. 5. All bonds executed to the State, or to any 
officer in his official capacity, shall remain in force and 
inure to the use of those concerned. 

Sec. 6. The election under this Constitution shall 
be held on the second Tuesday in October, in the year 
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, at which 
time the electors of the State shall elect the Governor 
and Lieutenant-Governor. There shall also be elected 
at such election the successors of such State Senators 
as were elected at the August election, in the year one 
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, and members of 
the House of Representatives, who shall be elected in 
accordance with the act of apportionment, enacted at 
the session of the General Assembly which commenced 
on the first Monday of December, one thousand eight 
hundred and fifty-six. 

Sec. 7. The first election for Secretary, Auditor, 
and Treasurer of State, Attorney. General, District 



Supreme 
Court of the 



Laws in force 



Legal process 
not affected. 



Fines, etc., 
inure to the 
State. 



Bonds in 
force. 



(a). First 
election. 



(b). Governor 
and Lieu- 
tenant-Gov- 
ernor. 



Same: Secre- 
tary, Audit- 
or, etc. 



5° 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Same: judges 
of Supreme 
Court. 



First session 
General 
Assembly. 



Offices not 
vacated by 
new Consti- 
tution. 



Judges, Members of the Board of Education, District 
Attorneys, Members of Congress, and such State officers 
as shall be elected at the April election, in the year one 
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven (except the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction), and such count}' 
officers as were elected at the August election, in the 
year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, except 
Prosecuting Attorneys, shall be held on the second Tues- 
day of October, one thousand eight hundred and fifty- 
eight: Provided, that the time for which any District 
Judge or other State or county officer elected at the 
April election in the year one thousand eight hundred 
and fifty-eight, shall not extend beyond the time fixed 
for filling like offices at the October election, in the year 
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. 

Sec. 8. The first election for Judges of the Supreme 
Court, and such county officers as shall be elected at the 
August election, in the year one thousand e'ght hundred 
and fifty-seven, shall be held on the second Tuesday of 
October, in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
fifty-nine. 

Sec. 9. The first regular session of the General 
Assembly shall be held in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and fifty-eight, commencing on the second 
Monday of January of said year. 

Sec. to. Senators elected at the August election, in 
the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, shall 
continue in office until the second Tuesday of October, 
in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty -nine, 
at which time their successor shall be elected as may be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 11. Every person elected by popular vote, by 
a vote of the General Assembly, or who may hold office 
by executive appointment, which office is continued by 
this Constitution, and every person who shall be so 
elected or appointed to any such office, before the taking 
effect of this Constitution (except as in this Constitution 
otherwise provided), shall continue in office until the . 
term for which such person has been or may be elected 
or appointed shall expire ; but no such person shall con- 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



tinue in office after the taking effect of this Constitution, 
for a longer period than the term of such office, in this 
Constitution prescribed. 

Sec. 12. The General Assembly, at the first session 
under this Constitution, shall district the State* into 
eleven Judicial Districts, for District Court purposes; 
and shall also provide for the apportionment of the mem. 
bers of the General Assembly in accordance with the 
provisions of this Constitution. 

Sec. 13. This Constitution shall be submitted to . 
the electors of the State at the August election, in the 
year one thousand eight hundred and fifty- seven, in the 
several election districts in this State. The ballots at 
such election shall be written or printed, as follows: 
Those in favor of the Constitution, " New Constitution 
— Yes." Those against the Constitution, " New Consti- 
tution — No." The election shall be conducted in the 
same manner as the general elections of the State, and 
the poll-books shall be returned and canvassed as pro- 
vided in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Code, and 
abstracts shall be forwarded to the Secretary of State, 
which abstracts shall be canvassed in the manner pro- 
vided for the canvass of State officers; and if it shall 
appear that a majority of all the votes cast at such elec- 
tion for and against this Constitution are in favor of the 
same, the Governor shall immediately issue his procla- 
mation stating that fact, and such Constitution shall be 
the Constitution of the State of Iowa, and shall take 
effect, from and after the publication of said proclama- 
tion. 

Sec. 14. At the same election that this Constitution 
is submitted to the people for its adoption or rejection, a 
proposition to amend the same by striking out the word 
"white" from the article on the "Right of Suffrage," 
shall be separately submitted to the electors of this Stat e 
for adoption or rejection, in the manner following, viz. : 
A separate ballot may be given by every person having 
a right to vote at said election, to be deposited in a sepa- 
rate box. And those given for the adoption of such 
proposition shall have the words, " Shall the word 
' white ' be stricken out of the article on the ' Right of 



State to be 
districted. 



Constitution 
to be voted 
for August, 
1850. 



Proposition 
to strike 
out the 
word white. 



5* 



CONSTITUTION OF IOWA. 



Mills County. 



Suffrage? ' Yes." And those given against the propo- 
sition shall have the words, " Shall the word 'white ' be 
stricken out of the article on the ' Right of Suffrage? ' 
No." And if at said election the number of ballots cast 
in favor of said proposition shall be equal to a majority 
of those cast for and against this Constitution, then said 
word " white " shall be stricken from said article and be 
no part thereof. 

Sec. 15. Until otherwise directed by law, the county 
of Mills shall be in and a part of the Sixth Judicial Dis 
trict of this State. 

Done in Convention at Iowa City, this fifth day of March, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
and fifty-seven, and of the Independence of the 
United States of America the eighty-first. 

SIGNERS: 



Timothy Day, 
S. G. Winchester, 
David Bunker, 
D. P. Palmer, 
Geo. VV. Ells, 
J. C. Hall, 
John H. Peters, 
Wm. H. Warren, 
H. W. Gray, 

ROBT. GOWER, 

H. D. Gibson, 
Thomas Seeley, 
A. H. Marvin, 
J. H. Emerson, 
R. L. B. Clarke, 
James A. Young, 
D. H. Solomon, 
Attest: 



W. W. Robinson, 
Lewis Todhunter, 
John Edwards, 
J. C. Traer, 
Ja.mes F. Wilson, 
Amos Harris, 
Jno. T. Clarke, 
S. Ayres, 
Harvey J. Skiff, 
J. A. Parvin, 
W. Penn Clark, 
Jere Hollingsworth, 
Wm. Patterson, 
D. W. Price, 
Alpheas Scott, 
Geo. Gillaspy, 
Edward Johnston. 
Francis Springer, Pres. 



Th. J. Saunders, Secy. 

E. N. Bates, Assistant Secy. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA. 



DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT. 

Before discussing the departments of government, 
it will be well to learn something of the nature of a 
constitution, as well as the history of the constitution 
of our own State. A constitution has been called the 
fundamental /azv, because it is the foundation of all 
legislative acts, and no valid law can be passed in viola- 
tion of its provisions. It is in the nature of a contract 
between the general government of the state and the 
people themselves, whereby the powers of the former 
are defined, and the rights of the latter maintained. 

The constitution, adopted by the people of Iowa 
just before the state was admitted into the Union, is 
known as the " old constitution." Some of its provis- 
ions proved to be unsatisfactory, and, in the early part 
of 1857, a convention met at Iowa City, and drafted 
the present constitution of the state. The work of 
this convention was completed March 5th, of that year. 
Several of its members have since held important posi- 
tions in state and nation. 

By its own terms, this draft of a constitution was 
submitted to the electors of the state at an election 
held in August, 1857. A majority of the votes cast at 
that time were in favor of its adoption, and the gov- 
ernor immediately issued a proclamation declaring this 
new constitution to be the supreffne law of Iowa. 
—53— 



54 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP IOWA. 

The preamble, or introduction to the constitution 
is as follows : We, the People of the State of Iowa, grate- 
ful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto 
enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a con- 
tinuation of those blessings, do ordain and establish a 
free and independent government, by the name of 
The State of Iowa, the boundaries whereof shall be as 
follows : (For boundaries, see Const., page 22). The 
preamble is not a part of the constitution, but is 
designed to show the reason for its establishment. 

ARTICLE I. — BILL OF RIGHTS. 

Section one of the first article of the Constitution 
defines the civil rights of the inhabitants of the state. 
It declares that all men are, by nature, free and equal, 
and that they are endowed with certain inalienable 
rights. The rights enumerated are those of enjoying 
and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possess- 
ing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and 
obtaining safety and happiness. These rights of the 
people are recognized by all free governments, and 
must be, in the very nature of things. They are called 
inalienable rights, because they cannot be taken away 
so long as the government exists. 

The second section declares all political power to 
be vested in the people of the state. Government is 
instituted for the good of the people, and they have 
the right to alter or reform the same, whenever the 
public good may require it. The essence of all free 
government is contained in the expression, " A govern- 
ment of the people, by the people, and for the people." 

Section three prohibits the legislature from passing 
any law to establish uniformity of religion, or to restrict 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA. 55 ' 

the religious liberty of the people. It forbids the lay- 
ing of tithes, taxes, or other rates for building places 
of worship or maintaining the ministry The religious 
freedom, sought by so many of the early settlers of our 
country, is guaranteed to all persons within the borders 
of Iowa. 

Section fotir forbids the requirement of any relig- 
ious test as a qualification for any office of public 
trust, and declares that no person shall be deprived of 
any rights, privileges, or capacities on account of his 
opinions on religious matters. This is in accordance 
with the spirit of the constitution of the United States, 
upon which the state constitution is based. This sec- 
tion also provides that parties to any suits of law are 
competent to serve as witnesses in such suits. 

Section five declares any citizen of the state who 
shall engage in a duel, either as principal or accessory, 
to be forever disqualified from holding any office under 
the constitution and laws of the state. This shows 
the growth in sentiment with regard to the practice of 
duelling. Hamilton, Burr, Jackson, Clay, and many 
other prominent men in the early history of our gov- 
ernment, resorted to this barbarous way of settling 
their " affairs of honor." 

By section six, the general assembly is forbidden 
to grant any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or 
immunities, which shall not apply to all other persons, 
under the same circumstances. All laws of a general 
nature must be uniform in their operation. It is a 
fundamental principle of all free government that there 
shall be no privileged classes. The next section gives 
every person the right to speak, write* and publish his 
sentiments on any, and all, subjects. By its provis- 



5^ CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA. 

ions, no law can be passed to restrict liberty of speech 
or of the press, but any person is liable to prosecution 
for the abuse of this right. In all prosecutions for 
libel, if it can be proven, that the matter charged as 
libelous, is true, the person accused shall be acquitted. 
Article one of the amendments to the constitution of the 
United States insures the same freedom to all the peo- 
ple of the United States. 

Section eight of this article is a verbatim reprint 
of the fourth article of amendment to the constitution 
of the United States. 

Section nine provides for maintaining inviolate the 
right of trial by jury, but authorizes the general assem- 
bly to establish a jury of a less number than twelve 
men in inferior courts. Another provision is, that no 
person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law. In accordance with the 
latter part of the first clause, the jury in a justice 
court is composed of six men. 

Section ten refers to the method of procedure in 
criminal cases, and is, in substance, the same as article 
six of the amendments to the constitution of the 
United States. 

Section eleven establishes the mode of procedure 
in all criminal cases less than felony, in which the pun- 
ishment does not exceed a fine of one hundred dollars, 
or imprisonment for more than thirty days. All such 
cases are to be tried without indictment, before a jus- 
tice of the peace, or other officer authorized by law. 
The accused has the right to appeal from the decision 
of the justice to the district court. 

In all other criminal offenses, an indictment must 
be brought against the person suspected of having 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA. 57 

committed the crime, before he can be held to answer 
for the crime of which he is accused. There is an 
exception to this in cases arising in the army or navy, 
or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war 
or public danger. Violators of military law are tried 
by a court consisting of from three to thirteen mem- 
bers, according to the nature of the crime and the 
rank of the offender. 

After a person has been acquitted by a court of 
competent jurisdiction, he cannot be tried again for 
the same offense. A person, charged with the perpe- 
tration of a minor crime, is entitled to his liberty 
before conviction, upon giving bonds signed by respon- 
sible parties, that he will present himself, at the 
appointed time, for trial. Such bonds are called bail, 
and are usually of twice the amount of the highest 
money penalty, or fine, that can be attached to the 
crime. If the person, thus set at liberty, fails to 
appear for trial, the amount of the bond, or so much 
thereof as may be demanded by the court, is forfeited 
to the school-fund of the county, and becomes a part 
of the semi-annual apportionment for the support of 
schools. Bail is not usually accepted from persons 
charged with having committed capital crimes, when 
the proof is evident, or the presumption great. A 
capital offense is one to which the death penalty, or 
imprisonment for life can be attached. 

Section thirteen secures to all, the right to a writ 
of habeas corpus, when application is made according 
to law. This right can be suspended and the writ 
refused, only in case of rebellion or invasion, or when 
the public safety may require it. The writ of habeas 
corpus has been called " The great writ of personal 



5$ CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA. 

liberty." It is issued by the judge of the court having 
jurisdiction of the crime, and cannot be refused when 
proper application is made by the accused under oath. 
This writ had its origin in England in the " Magna 
Charta " of King John, granted in the year 1215. Our 
forefathers esteemed this to be one of their grandest 
privileges, and it has always been recognized as an 
inherent right of all citizens of the United States. 

The fourteenth section places the military subordi- 
nate to the civil power. It declares that no standing 
army shall be kept up in the state, in time of peace, 
and, in time of war, that no appropriation for a stand- 
ing army shall be for a longer period than two years. 
The next section forbids the quartering of troops in 
any house, in time of peace, without the consent of its 
owner, and, in time of war, except in the manner pre- 
scribed by law. 

Section sixteen defines treason against the state to 
consist in levying war against it, adhering to its 
enemies, or giving them aid and comfort. This is vir- 
tually the definition given of treason in the constitu- 
tion of the United States. It is also provided, that 
no person shall be convicted of treason except upon 
the evidence of two witnesses to the same act, or upon 
confession in open court. 

Section seventeen provides that any bail required 
shall not be excessive, that is, beyond the nature of 
the crime for which it is taken. The imposing of 
excessive fines, and the infliction of cruel and unusual 
punishments, are expressly forbidden. The next sec- 
tion declares that private property shall not be taken 
for the use of the public without just compensation to 
the owner. The damages resulting from the appro- 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA. 59 

priation of private property for public purposes, shall 
be assessed by a jury, but no benefit that the owner of 
the property would receive from the improvements for 
which it is taken, can be considered in rendering the. 
decision for damages. Every one is entitled to the use 
of his property to the exclusion of all other private 
citizens, but sometimes it becomes necessary to sacri- 
fice private rights for the public weal. 

Imprisonment for debt, in any civil process, except 
in case of fraud, is forbidden by the nineteenth section, 
and no person can be imprisoned for a military fine, in 
time of peace. So long as the English common law 
was in operation in this country, imprisonment for 
debt was common, but now it is usually forbidden by 
constitution or statute in all the states. If the action 
of the debtor is such that it is reasonable to suppose 
that he intends to avoid the payment of his debts by 
concealing his property, or removing it from the state, 
the provisions of this section will not apply. In Scot- 
land, at the present time, a person may be imprisoned 
for a debt of forty dollars or more. Whittier's poem, 
" The Prisoner for Debt," graphically portrays the con- 
dition of persons confined for debt. 

Section twenty insures to the people some of their 
dearest rights, among which is that of assembling to 
counsel for the common good. The rope-makers of 
Boston held such meetings to devise means for resist- 
ing the British soldiery. The modern word caucus is 
said to be a corruption of caulkers, a term often applied 
to rope-makers. The right of making known their 
opinions to their representatives, and that of petition- 
ing for a redress of grievances, are also guaranteed. 

The language of the twenty-first section is as fol- 



60 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA. 

lows : " No bill of attainder, ex-post-facto law, or law 
impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be 
passed." A bill of attainder is a legislative act inflict- 
ing the penalty of death, without trial, upon persons 
supposed to be guilty of high crimes. In former times, 
the parliament of Great Britain passed laws of this 
kind, often for the purpose of reaching persons in high 
places who could not be gotten rid of by ordinary pro- 
cess of law. 

An ex-post-facto law is one that is passed after 
the commission of an act by which the act may be 
punished as a crime. It would seem that the prohibi- 
tion of ex-post-facto laws would make the latter part 
of this section unnecessary. Ex-post-facto laws apply 
to criminal and penal statutes, but not to those that 
affect property only. Hence we may say that this part 
of the section prohibits ex-post-facto laws in the inter- 
ests of contracts. 

Section twenty-two grants to all foreigners residing 
in the state, the same rights in respect to the posses- 
sion, enjoyment, and descent of property, as native- 
born citizens. 

The twenty-third prohibits slavery, and declares 
that there shall be no involuntary servitude, except for 
the punishment of crime. 

The twenty-fourth limits leases of agricultural 
lands from which rent or service of any kind is reserved, 
to a period not exceeding twenty years. 

The tiventy-fifth is a fitting one with which to 
close this Bill of Rights. Its language is, " The enumer- 
ation of rights shall not be construed to impair or 
deny others, retained by the people." Liberty, civil 
and religious, is insured to all within the borders of the 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA. 6 1 

state, and, as if this were not enough, any other privi- 
leges that may be enjoyed, are reserved to the people. 
Surely our government rests on a foundation broad 
and deep. 

ARTICLE II.— RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE. 

The constitution of every free government desig- 
nates those persons in whom the right of suffrage is 
vested. With us, all political power is inherent in the 
people. The power referred to is usually called the 
elective franchise, or the right to vote. It is customary 
in the United States to restrict this right to male citi- 
zens, twenty-one years of age, or older. Persons under 
that age, as a rule, are considered incompetent to vote 
understandingly upon questions of public importance, 
but, at best, the rule is an arbitrary one. Some stand- 
ard must be adopted, and perhaps the one in use is as 
good as any other that could be established. To con- 
struct a general law to cover special cases, is out of the 
question. 

Formerly, a property qualification was required of 
electors — that is, before a man could vote, he was 
obliged to prove that he owned a certain amount of 
property, or paid taxes or rents of a specified sum. 
There is no such restriction, at the present time, in 
any of the states, except Rhode Island. The tendency 
now seems to be in favor of extending, rather than of 
restricting, this right. 

All electors who are not accused of treason, felony, 
or breach of the peace, are privileged from arrest on 
election day, while attending the election, or going to 
or returning from the same. No elector is obliged to 
perform military duty on the day of election, except 



62 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA. 

in time of war or public danger. Persons, engaged in 
the military, naval, or marine service of the United 
States, do not gain a residence in the state by being 
stationed here in the discharge of their duties. 

Idiots and insane persons are prohibited from exer- 
cising the right of suffrage, because they cannot do so 
understandingly. The only other persons who are 
denied this privilege, are those who have been con- 
victed of some infamous crime. It would not be wise 
to allow criminals a voice in making the laws. 

The right of electors to vote as they choose is 
established by the last clause, which declares that all 
elections by the people shall be by ballot. 

ARTICLE III. — DISTRIBUTION OF POWER. 

Government, both state and national, is divided 
into three departments — legislative, executive, and 
judicial. It is intended that each department shall be 
independent of the other two, but, so far, entire inde- 
pendence has been found impossible. Each state in 
the Union has a constitution which provides for these 
three departments, and defines the powers of each. 
The legislative department is also called the law-mak- 
ing poivcr, the executive, the law-enforcing power, and 
the judicial, the law-interpreting power. 




LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

The legislative authority of this state shall be 
vested in a general assembly, which shall consist of a 
senate and house of representatives; and the style of 
every law shall be : " Be it enacted by the General 
Assembly of the State of Iowa." The legislature has 
the power to enact laws on any subject provided they 
do not conflict with the national and state constitu- 
tions, or with any acts of congress. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

I. Composition. The house of representatives, or 
lower house, as it is sometimes called, is composed of 
members chosen every second year, by the qualified 
electors of their respective districts. 

QUALIFICATIONS. — r. Age. 2. Citizenship. 3. Inhabi- 
tancy. 4. Residence. 
Any person, having the required qualifications as 
to age, citizenship, inhabitancy, and residence, is eligible 
to a seat in the house of representatives, if properly 
elected. A representative must be a male citizen of 
the United States, and twenty-one years of age. He 
must have been an inhabitant of the state of Iowa one 
year next preceding his election, and, at the time of 
his election, must have had an actual residence of sixty 
days in the county or district he was chosen to rep- 
resent. 

-63- 



6 4 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



NUMBER OF MEMBERS. 

The house of representatives, at present, consists 
of one hundred members, the largest number autho- 
rized by the constitution. The number of representa- 
tive districts is eighty-eight, and the ratio of repre- 
sentation is one representative for every sixteen thou- 
sand eight hundred and fifty inhabitants, or fraction 
thereof more than one-half, in each representative 
district. As the population of the state increases, it 
becomes necessary to increase the basis of representa- 
tion. This is done at each regular session of the gen- 
eral assembly. No representative district can contain 
more than four counties, and each district is entitled 
to at least one representative. 

Every county or district, having a number of 
inhabitants equal to one-half of the basis of representa- 
tion, is entitled to one representative, and any one 
county having one and one-half times the basis of rep- 
resentation, is entitled to one additional representative. 
By this provision, there is a gain of twelve members 
in the eighty-eight districts of the state. 

CENSUS. 

Section 33, of Article III, of the constitution, says, 
" The general assembly shall, in the years 1859, 1863, 
1865, 1867, 1869, 1875, and every ten years thereafter, 
cause an enumeration to be made of all the inhabitants 
of the state. These enumerations, together with the 
United States census, taken on the first year of each 
regular decade, enable the general assembly to appor- 
tion the senators and representatives among the several 
districts. 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 65 

WHEN CHOSEN. 

The members of the house of representatives are 
chosen at the general election, held on the second 
Tuesday in October of each odd-numbered year. In 
some of the states, the meetings of the legislature are 
held every year, and the members in such instances are 
elected annually. 

QUALIFICATIONS OF ELECTORS. 

It will be seen by Art. II, Sec. I, of the constitu- 
tion, that every male citizen of the United States, 
twenty-one years of age, who has been a resident of 
the state six months, and of the county in which he 
claims his vote, sixty days next preceding the election, 
is duly qualified to vote at any election held in the 
state. Sections four and five of the same article con- 
tain the only exceptions to the foregoing. (See Const.) 

The term citizen is often improperly restricted to 
those persons who have the right to vote. The four- 
teenth amendment to the United States constitution 
says, "All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citi- 
zens of the United States and of the state wherein 
they reside." In some states, foreigners acquire the 
right to vote at all state elections upon taking out the 
first naturalization papers. That is not the case in 
Iowa, however. Here a foreigner must have completed 
the process of naturalization before voting at any 
election. 

VACANCIES. 

When vacancies occur in either house, it is the 
duty of the governor, or acting executive officer, to 
issue writs of electionjo fill such vacancies. 
5 



66 LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

POWERS. 
The house of representatives has the same power 
as the senate in general law-making. Bills may origi- 
nate in either house, and may be amended, altered, or 
rejected by the other. The power to impeach state 
officers is vested in the house of representatives, but 
the trial of all persons impeached rests with the senate. 
With this exception, the powers of both houses are the 
same. 

THE SENATE. 

The senate is a representative body, its members 
being chosen by the people, but it has only one-half as 
many members as the house of representatives. It 
was intended that its members should be men of wide 
experience in public affairs. 

COMPOSITION. 

The senate is composed of members chosen at the 
same time and place as members of the lower house. 
The senatorial term is four years. 

QUALIFICATIONS. 

Senators must be at least twenty-five years of age. 
The qualifications as to citizenship, inhabitancy and 
rcsidejice are the same as for representatives. The 
duties of senators are considered to be more responsi- 
ble than those of representatives, and hence the dis- 
tinction in age is made. In this respect, the state 
constitution is modeled after the constitution of the 
United States. 

NUMBER OF MEMBERS. 
The constitution provides that the number of sena- 
tors shall not be less than one-third, nor more than 
one-half, of the representative body. The senate is 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 67 

now composed of fifty members, the largest number 
possible. In some of the other states, the number of 
senators is considerably smaller than in our own state. 
In all of the states, the senate has fewer members than 
the house. The ratio of apportionment now is, one 
senator for every forty-six thousand inhabitants in each 
senatorial district. 

HOW CLASSED. 

At the first session of the legislature, the senators 
were divided into two classes as nearly equal as possi- 
ble. The term of those belonging to the first class 
expired in two years, and that of the others in four 
years. The successors of the members of each class 
were chosen for four years. As the number of sena- 
tors increased, they were annexed, by lot, to one or 
the other of the two classes, so as to keep them as 
nearly equal in numbers as practicable. At present, 
there are two classes of twenty-five members each. 

SENATE POWERS. 

The senate is co-ordinate with the house in all 
general legislation. The impeachment of all state 
officers rests with the house of representatives, but 
the trial of those impeached is conducted by the sen- 
ate. When acting as a court in such cases, the sena- 
torsare placed under oath or affirmation to decide the 
case upon its merits. No person can be convicted 
without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members 
present. 

The governor, judges of the supreme and district 
courts, and other state officers, are liable to impeach- 
ment for any misdemeanor or malfeasance in office. 
Judgments in such cases extend only to removal from 



68 LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, 
trust, or profit under the state. The decision of the 
senate does not prevent the offender from being 
indicted, tried, and punished, according to the laws 
which govern the crime of which he is accused. 

PROVISIONS COMMON TO BOTH HOUSES. 

Tfme of meeting. The sessions of the general 
assembly are held once in two years, at the seat of gov- 
ernment, and commence on the second Monday in 
January of each even-numbered year. The governor 
may, in cases of necessity, convene the general assem- 
bly by proclamation, before the regular time of com- 
mencement. At two o'clock in the afternoon of the 
day on which the legislature meets, each house is 
called to order by some person present who claims to 
be a member. A temporary secretary of the senate, 
and clerk of the house are then chosen, and they pro- 
ceed to prepare lists of those claiming membership, 
each for his own house. 

The persons whose names appear on these lists, 
appoint a committee of five on the credentials of mem- 
bers of each house. The chairman of these commit- 
tees report the names of those who hold certificates of 
election to membership, and each house then proceeds 
to form a permanent organization, by the election of 
officers. The lieutenant-governor is cx-efficio presid- 
ing officer of the senate and acts in this capacity during 
the term for which he is elected. He is not a member 
of the senate, however. The presiding officer of the 
house of representatives, called the speaker, is chosen 
from among its own members. The other officers of 
the senate are the secretary and two assistants, an 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



69 



enrolling clerk, an engrossing clerk, a sergeant-at-arms, 
janitor, and doorkeeper. The house officers are, a 
chief clerk and two assistants, clerks for enrolling and 
engrossing, a sergeant-at-arms, two postmasters, a 
doorkeeper, janitor and assistant, and mail carrier. 

OATH. 

Members of the general assembly must take an 
oath or affirmation before entering upon the discharge 
of their duties. The form of the oath is as follows: 
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be), 
"that I will support the constitution of the United 
States, and the constitution of the state of Iowa, and 
that I will discharge the duties of senator (or repre- 
sentative), to the best of my ability." This is, sub- 
stantially, the oath taken by all officers in the state, 
from the lowest to the highest. Members of either 
house are authorized to administer the oath to each 
other, or to any other persons doing business with 
them when in session, or when acting as members of 
committees. 

SALARY. 

The members of the general assembly are allowed 
a compensation for their services, the amount of which 
shall be determined by law. At the fin-t meeting 
under the new constitution, the members of each 
house received three dollars per day for their services 
while in session, and three dollars for every twenty 
miles traveled in going to and returning from the seat 
of government by the nearest traveled route. 

The law now is that every member shall receive 
five hundred and fifty dollars for each regular session, 
and mileage as above. For each special session, each 



7° LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

member receives the same compensation per day that 
was received by members at the preceding regular 
session. For example, if the legislature remained in 
session one hundred days at the last regular meeting, 
the rate per day would be five dollars and a half. This, 
then, would be the rate of compensation for each day 
of the special session. In no case, however, can the 
pay of members for any special session, be more than 
six dollars per day, exclusive of mileage. Members 
and clerks are supplied with all necessary stationery at 
the expense of the state. 

The compensation of officers of the legislature 
who are not members of either house, is also fixed by 
law. The Nineteenth General Assembly established 
the following rates: The secretary of the senate and 
chief clerk of the house shall each receive seven dollars 
per day, the assistant secretaries and clerks, six dollars 
per day, and the enrolling and engrossing clerks five 
dollars per day, each. The sergeants-at-arms, door- 
keepers, janitors, and postmasters shall be paid four 
dollars each, and the mail carrier, five dollars. The 
clerks of committees shall receive three dollars, the 
paper-folders, two dollars and fifty cents, and the mes- 
sengers, two dollars per day, each. 

At the expiration of thirty days from the conven- 
ing of the general assembly, the members are entitled 
to draw the mileage due them, and also one-half of 
the compensation for the entire session. The minor 
officers and employes receive their pay from time to 
time upon the certificates of the presiding officers of 
the respective houses in which they are employed. 
The remainder of the salary is paid at the close of the 
session. 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 71 

MEMBERS. 

Each house chooses its own officers and judges of 
the qualification, election, and return of its own 
members. A person, who has not all the necessary 
qualifications for membership may be elected, and his 
certificate of election properly returned. ' It is left 
with each house to decide all questions of this kind. 
A contested election is settled in a manner prescribed 
by law. The speaker of the house holds his office the 
full term for which he was elected, but all other officers 
serve only during the session at which they were 
chosen. 

Quorum. A majority of the members of each 
house constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi- 
ness. A smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may compel the attendance of absent mem- 
bers, in such manner, and under such penalties, as 
each house may provide. 

ADJOURNMENTS, PENALTIES, ETC. 

Each house determines the time of its own adjourn- 
ments with the restriction that neither house shall, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more 
than three days, nor to any other place than that in 
which they may be sitting. The reason for this excep- 
tion is, that one house might retard the business of 
the other, or prevent legislation altogether by adjourn- 
ing from place to place, or for an indefinite period of 
time. 

In addition to keeping and publishing a journal of 
its own proceedings, each house determines the rules 
by which it is governed. In the absence of other rules, 
those contained in Cushing's Manualof parliamentary 



72 LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

practice are used. One of the rules established by the 
constitution is, that each house shall sit with open 
doors, except on such occasions as require secrecy. 
This is not properly a rule of order, however. 

Members may be punished or expelled for dis- 
orderly coniduct. It requires a two-thirds majority to 
expel, and no person can be so punished a second time 
for the same offense. 

PRIVILEGES. 

1. Of speech. No member can be called in ques- 
tion in any other place for anything that he may say in 
any speech or debate upon any question in either house. 
The rules of order determine the mode of procedure 
in debate, and a member may be denied the right to 
participate in discussion for violating those rules. 

2. From arrest. Senators and representatives, in 
all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the 
peace, are privileged from arrest while attending a ses- 
sion of the legislature, and in going to and returning 
from the sa*me. Were it not for this provision, such 
persons might be unlawfully detained, to the detri- 
ment of themselves and the people they were chosen 
to represent. 

3. Protest. Any member has the right to dissent 
from, or protest against any act or resolution which he 
may consider injurious to the public, or to private citi- 
zens. He may also have his objections to the measure 
entered upon the journal of the house of which he is 
a member. At the call of any two members present, 
a vote by yeas and nays must be taken and recorded 
in the journal. The process of voting in this way is 
longer than the ordinary one, but it serves to put each 
member upon record as to how he votes. The names 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 73 

of members and mariner of voting are made a part of 
the record, and t*he people, in this way, are enabled to 
learn just what their representatives are doing. 

4. From arrest. Any person who knowingly arrests 
a member in violation of his privilege, is guilty of con- 
tempt, and may be punished by fine or imprisonment, 
or both. The same penalty may be inflicted upon any 
one for assaulting or threatening to assault a member, 
or injure his person or property on account of any- 
thing said or done by him in the discharge of his 
duties. Any attempt to control or influence the action 
of a member, by menace or other improper means, is 
considered a contempt, and may be punished as pre- 
scribed above. Several minor offenses may be treated 
in the same way. 

PENALTIES. 

1. Fines and imprisonments for contempt are made 
upon an order from the proper house. The order, with 
the reasons for which it was issued, must be entered 
upon the journal. A warrant for imprisonment is signed 
by the presiding officer and countersigned by the 
secretary or clerk. The sheriff, or jailor, of the proper 
county receives the warrant, and serves it in the same 
manner as any other writ. Such imprisonment cannot 
extend beyond the session at which it is ordered, but 
the guilty party may be tried and punished for the 
same offense, in the courts of the state. 

2. Witnesses. Any person may be* summoned, by 
subpoena, to appear before any committee of either or 
both houses to testify upon any subject which the com- 
mittee may be considering. The person so summoned 
is entitled to the same compensation as witnesses 



74 LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

before the district court, but he cannot demand the 
payment of his fees in advance. 

PROHIBITIONS. 

1. On Members. As a means of preventing fraud, 
the following section was adopted : " No senator or 
representative shall, during the time for which he shall 
have been elected, be appointed to any civil office of 
profit under this state, which shall have been created, 
or the emoluments of which shall have been increased 
during such term, except such offices as may be filled 
by elections by the people." A similar provision is 
contained in the constitution of the United States. 

2. Persons holding lucrative offices under the 
United States, the state of Iowa, or any other power, 
are declared by the constitution of the state to be ineli- 
gible to a seat in the general assembly. Officers of the 
militia, who draw no annual salary, justices of the 
peace, postmasters, whose compensation is not more 
than one hundred dollars per year, and notaries public, 
are not included in the provisions of this section. 

3. Before any person, who has been a holder or 
collector of public money, can take his seat as a mem- 
ber of the general assembly, or be eligible to hold any 
office of trust or profit in this state, he must have 
accounted for and paid into the treasury all funds 
belonging to his office. This is to prevent persons, 
guilty of appropriating public money to improper uses, 
from becoming legislators in their own behalf. 

ON OFFICERS, ETC. 

After any officer, public agent, or contractor, has 
entered upon the discharge of his duties, or completed 
the services agreed upon, he cannot receive any extra 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 75 

compensation for such services. No money can be 
drawn from the public treasury except in accordance 
with appropriations made by law. Money cannot be 
paid on any claim that was not provided for by pre- 
existing laws, and the appropriation of public money 
or property, for private purposes, cannot be made 
except with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the 
members elected to each house. 

ON THE LEGISLATURE. 

1. The general assembly is forbidden to pass any 
local or special laws for levying taxes for state, county, 
or road purposes; for laying out and improving roads; 
for changing the names of persons ; for the incorpora- 
tion of cities and towns ; for vacating roads, town 
plats, streets, alleys, or public squares; and for locating 
or changing county seats. In these and all other cases 
of a general nature, all laws must be of uniform opera- 
tion throughout the state. The legislature can pass 
no law for changing the boundaries of counties, that 
may not, at a general election, be ratified or rejected 
by the people of the counties affected. 

2. The general assembly is prohibited from grant- 
ing divorces, or authorizing lotteries and the sale of 
lottery tickets within the state. Only one subject, 
with the matters pertaining to it, can be included in 
any one bill, and the subject treated of must be stated 
in the title of the bill. If the subject matter of any 
bill is not expressed in the title, that part of the act 
referring to such subject matter is void. 

3. Laws of a public nature, passed at a regular 
session of the legislature, do not take effect until the 
Fourth of July after they are passed. The laws 
enacted at a special session take effect in ninety days 



j6 LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

after adjournment. Any law that is deemed to be of 
special importance may be put into effect by publica- 
tion in certain designated newspapers published in the 
state. 

LAW MAKING. 

1. The draft of a proposed law is called a bill. As 
it would be impossible, in open session, to transact all 
business connected with law-making, it is customary to 
refer certain parts of the work to committees. These 
committees are of two kinds, standing and special. 
The nature of the measure determines the committee 
to which it is referred. Committee meetings are held 
between the daily sessions of the legislature, and the 
result of their deliberations is reported to the proper 
house for final action. 

2. Bills may be introduced in either house, but 
the other house may alter, amend, or reject them 
altogether. Before a bill can become a law, it must 
pass both houses and be signed by the speaker of the 
house and president of the senate. It is then pre- 
sented to the governor for approval. If he is satisfied 
with its provisions, he affixes his signature and the bill 
becomes a law. If he objects to the bill, it is his duty 
to return it to the house in which it originated, with 
his objections. 

3. These objections being entered upon the journal, 
this house then proceeds to reconsider the bill. If, 
after such reconsideration, the bill is again passed by 
a two-thirds majority of each house, it becomes a law, 
notwithstanding the governor's objections. The refusal 
of the governor to sign a bill is called his veto. Veto 
is a Latin expression, signifying, " I forbid it." The 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 77 

veto power has been exercised but once in this state 
during the past twelve years. 

4. The failure of the governor to return a bill 
within three days from the time it is presented to him 
(Sunday excepted), is equivalent to his signature, 
unless the general assembly, by adjournment, prevent 
its return. A bill presented to the governor during 
the last three days of the session must be deposited by 
him with the secretary of state within thirty days 
from the. time the legislature adjourned. He must 
also signify his approval by signing the bill, or if he 
vetoes it, his objections must be filed with the secre- 
tary of state, along with the bill itself. 

5. Every act or resolution receives three separate 
readings, but its second and third readings can not 
occur upon the same day. A bill cannot be passed 
without the assent of a majority of all the members 
elected to each branch of the legislature. The ques- 
tion upon its final passage must be taken immediately 
after its last reading, the vote being by yeas and nays. 

6. Certain business of the general assembly is 
transacted in joint convention of both houses. Such 
meetings are held in the hall of the house of represen- 
tatives, and, in the absence of the president of the 
senate and speaker of the house, a temporary presi- 
dent is chosen on joint ballot. A record of the pro- 
ceedings is kept by the clerk of the house and the 
secretary of the senate, and recorded by them upon 
the journals of their respective houses. 

7. United States senators are elected by the legis- 
lature in joint convention in the following manner: 
The names of the members are arranged in alphabeti- 
cal order, and each one votes in the order in which his 



78 LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

name stands on the list. The name of the person 
voted for, and of the one voting, are recorded in 
writing by the judges of election, and, after the names 
are read a second time, to correct any errors of record 
that may have been made, the judges report to the 
presiding officer the number of votes each candidate 
has received. If no one has received a majority of all 
the votes cast, a second vote is taken, and so on from 
time to time until some one receives a majority. 

8. The person receiving such a majority is declared 
to be duly elected, and the president of the conven- 
tion signs duplicate certificates of election, one of 
which is transmitted to the governor, the other being 
preserved as a part of the records of the convention. 
This is substantially the plan pursued in the election 
of all officers chosen by the general assembly in joint 
convention. 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 



1. To this department belongs the power of exe- 
cuting, or carrying into effect, the laws of the state. 
Its principal officer is the governor, who holds his 
office for two years from the time of his installation. 
He is elected by the qualified electors of the state on 
the second Tuesday in October of each odd-numbered 
year. The duties of the governor are very important, 
for to him is entrusted the care of seeing that all the 
laws are faithfully enforced. A lieutenant-governor is 
chosen at the time of the election of governor, who 
also holds his office for two years. 

2. The qualifications of the governor differ in dif- 
ferent states. In Iowa, no person is eligible to that 
position who is not a male citizen of the United States, 
at least thirty years of age, and who has not been a 
resident of the state the two years next preceding the 
election. The same qualifications are required of can- 
didate's for the position of lieutenant-governor. 

3. The official term of these officers commences 
on the second Monday in January following their elec- 
tion, and continues for two years and until their suc- 
cessors are elected and qualified. The returns of the 
election for governor and lieutenant-governor are sealed 
and transmitted to the seat of government. They 
are directed to the speaker of the house of representa- 

—79— 



SO EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

tives, and it is his duty to open and publish them in 
the presence of both houses of the general assembly. 
In some states, these officers are elected every year. 

4. The persons who have received the highest 
number of votes for governor and lieutenant-governor 
respectively, are declared elected. In case of a tie 
vote for two or more persons for either office, it is the 
duty of the general assembly in joint meeting to pro- 
ceed to the election of governor or lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, as the case may be. 

5. The governor is commander-in-chief of the 
militia, and of the army and navy of the state. He 
transacts business with all civil and military officers of 
the government, and receives information from the 
other officers of the executive department upon any 
subject pertaining to their duties. 

6. When any office becomes vacant from any cause, 
it is the duty of the governor to fill the vacancy-by 
appointment unless the constitution or laws of the 
state provide some other way. The appointment lasts 
only until the end of the next meeting of the legisla- 
ture or the next general election by the people. 

7. He may, on extraordinary occasions, call a 
special session of the general assembly by proclama- 
tion, and when both houses have assembled, it is his 
duty to state to them the reasons for which they have 
been convened. This action is rarely taken except in 
cases of public danger, as the expense of holding a 
session for a few days only, amounts to a large sum of 
money. The mileage is the same for a special as for 
a regular session. 

8. After the organization of the general assembly 
is completed, the governor's message is read to each 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 8l 

house by its clerk. This message contains a state- 
ment of the condition of the state, together with such 
recommendations as the governor may see fit to make 
concerning matters of importance. This document 
corresponds to the president's annual message to con- 
gress, and is always written or printed. The first two 
presidents made their recommendations in person, but _ 
since their time, the present custom has prevailed. 

9. In case both houses fail to agree upon the time 
of adjournment, the governor fixes the time at which 
that body shall stand adjourned. The power to pro- 
rogue or forbid the assembling of the legislature is 
expressly denied by the last clause of section thirteen 
of this article. 

10. The governor has power to grant commutations 
and pardons in all cases except treason and impeach- 
ment, subject to regulations provided by law. A 
reprieve is a temporary suspension of the death penalty 
that has been passed upon a person convicted of a capi- 
tal crime. For a number of years the death penalty 
was forbidden by the laws of the state, but it was 
revived in 1878 and may be applied upon conviction 
of murder in the first degree. A commutation of a 
sentence shortens the time or lessens the severity of 
the punishment. A pardon forgives the criminal and 
orders his release. 

11. After a person has been convicted of treason, 
the governor may suspend the execution of the sen- 
tence until the legislature can act upon the matter. 
That body may either grant a pardon, commute the 
sentence or direct its execution, or extend the time of 
the reprieve. The governor has: the power to remit 



°2 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

fines and forfeitures also, but under certain restrictions 
made by law. 

Each case of reprieve, commutation, pardon, or 
remission of fine or forfeiture must be reported to the 
general assembly at its next meeting. The name of 
the person relieved from any of the above penalties 
with the reasons for the executive action must form a 
part of the report. 

The lieutenant-governor is ex-officio president of 
the senate, but he has no vote except when that body 
is equally divided. In case of the absence or disa- 
bility of this officer, or when he is discharging the 
duties of governor, it becomes necessary for the senate, 
to choose a president pro-tcm. The salary of the lieu- 
tenant-governor is fixed at double that of members of 
the senate. This, according to the present law, amounts 
to eleven hundred dollars for the term of two years. 
In case of the death, impeachment, or removal of the 
governor, the duties of that officer devolve upon the 
lieutenant-governor, and during the time he is acting 
in such capacity, he receives the same compensation 
as the governor. 

If the lieutenant-governor, while acting as gov- 
ernor, is impeached or displaced, or for any other 
reason becomes unable to perform the duties devolv- 
ing upon him, the president pro-tem of the senate acts 
as governor until the vacancy is filled, or the disability 
removed. And in case this officer becomes disqualified 
from any cause, the speaker of the house of represen- 
tatives acts in his stead. 

The governor is the custodian of the great seal of 
the state which is used by him officially in sealing all 
grants and commissions. All commissions granted 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 83 

by the governor must be, signed by him and counter- 
signed by the secretary of sfate. The motto of the 
state is a grand one : " Our liberties we prize, and our 
rights we will maintain." 

Besides the officers of the executive department 
already mentioned, the people elect biennially, a sec- 
retary of state, an auditor of state, arid a state treas- 
urer, whose duties are defined by law. 




JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 



The judicial department consists of the supreme 
and district courts expressly provided for by the con- 
stitution and the circuit and justice courts established 
by act of the general assembly. At first the supreme 
court consisted of three members, two of whom con- 
stituted a quorum for holding court. This number 
has been increased to five, and one member is elected 
annually for five years in each period of six years. 
Under the present law, there will be no judge elected 
in the year 1S86 but every sixth year thereafter. The 
judge having the shortest term to serve acts as chief 
justice. From this it will be seen that each member 
of the supreme court is chief justice during the last 
year of his term. Judges of this court are ineligible 
to any other office in this state during the term for 
which they have been elected. 

The supreme court is a tribunal for the interpreta- 
tion of law and the correction of errors made by 
judges of the lower courts. It has appellate jurisdic- 
tion in cases of chancery only. In addition to the 
above-mentioned powers, this court has the general 
supervision of all the lower courts. 

The salary of judges of the supreme court was 
fixed by section nine of this article, at two thousand 
dollars per annum, but the same section gave the gen- 
-S 4 - 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 85 

eral assembly power to increase the compensation from 
time to time. The salary at present is four thousand 
dollars per annum. 

The clerk of the supreme court has charge of all 
decisions made by the court. His duties are such as 
are indicated by his title. He is placed under bonds 
to the amount of not less than ten thousand dollars, 
and for his services, he receives twenty-two hundred 
dollars per year. He is allowed to appoint a deputy, 
who is paid twelve hundred per year. The next elec- 
tion of clerk and reporter of the supreme court occurs 
in the year 1886. Their term of office is four years. 

The supreme court reporter has charge of publish- 
ing the decisions of the court in reports of from 750 to 
800 pages each. These reports are copyrighted in the 
name of the state, and the reporter is forbidden to 
have any pecuniary interest in them. Salary, two 
thousand dollars per year, payable quarterly. 

ARTICLE VI.— MILITIA. 

All able-bodied male citizens of the state, between 
the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such 
as have served in the United States service and been 
honorably discharged, compose the militia. The gen- 
eral assembly has at different times passed laws for 
arming, equipping, and training the militia. At pres- 
ent, an annual appropriation of twenty thousand dol- 
lars is made to cover these and other expenses. All 
commissioned officers are elected by those subject to 
military duty, and commissioned by the governor. 
Those now subject to military duty number fully 
twenty-five thousand men. 



86 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 



The governor is commander-in-chief of the militia, 
and may call it out at any time when the public safety 
requires it. His powers are limited to this state only, 
and he cannot send a member out of the state against 
his will. Practically, the militia is unorganized, only a 
small portion being trained and equipped for duty. 
There are but two brigades of volunteers, numbering 
in all about twenty-three hundred men, known as the 
"Iowa National Guards." 

ARTICLE VII.— STATE DEBTS. 

This article provides that the credit of the state 
cannot, in any manner, be given, or loaned, to any 
individual, association, or corporations, and the debts 
of individuals, associations, or corporations, cannot be 
assumed by the state, unless they were incurred for 
the benefit of the state in time of war. 

Tike state may contract debts not to exceed two 
hundred "and fifty thousand dollars to supply deficits 
in revenue, or to meet expenses not otherwise provided 
for. Money borrowed on the credit of the state must 
be used for no ether purpose but that for which it was 
obtained. 

All losses to the permanent school or university 
fund which have been caused by defalcation or mis- 
management, are audited by the proper authorities and 
form a permanent funded debt against the state for 
the benefit of the fund that has sustained the loss. 
Indebtedness created in this way does not form a part 
of that to which reference is made in the preceding 
paragraph. 

The state may also contract debts for its defense 
in time of war, insurrection, or invasion. During the 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. §7 

late civil war, debts to the amount of three hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars were contracted in accord- 
ance with section four of this article, but they have 
all been paid and the state is now practically out of 
debt. 

Certain other debts may be authorized by special 
act of the general assembly, but no law of this kind 
can take effect until it has been ratified by a majority 
vote of the people at a general election. After such a 
law has been approved by the people, the general 
assembly may repeal it, provided no debt has been 
created in the mean time, for the purpose for which 
the law was passed. Every law that imposes, continues, 
or revives a tax must state the object to which the tax 
is to be applied. 

ARTICLE VIII. — CORPORATIONS. 

A corporation is an association of persons for the 
transaction of business under one firm name, or as a 
single person. Such associations are usually governed 
by a charter, the provisions of which define their 
powers and limit their responsibilities. This section 
provides that no corporation can be formed by special 
law, but the general assembly may, by general enact- 
ment, provide for the organization of various corpora- 
tions. The state cannot become a stockholder in any 
organization of this character, and no liabilities can 
be assumed by the state, unless they were contracted 
in time of war. The property of all corporations for 
pecuniary uses is subject to taxation the same as that 
of private citizens. 

It is expressly provided that no political or muni- 
cipal corporation can in any way become a stockholder 



88 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

in any banking corporation, and no association of per- 
sons with banking powers can be formed until the law 
authorizing its establishment has been ratified by a 
majority vote of the people at an election held at 
least three months after its enactment. The remainder 
of the section is devoted to the discussion of certain 
provisions relating to banks and banking corporations. 

ARTICLE IX. — EDUCATION. 

By this article the educational interests of the 
state were placed under the control of a board of edu- 
cation of which the lieutenant-governor was the pre- 
siding officer. One member of this board was chosen 
from each judicial district for a term of four years. 
The board was so organized that one-half of its mem- 
bers were chosen every second year. One meeting 
was held each year at a time fixed by the general 
assembly, but no meeting could last for a longer period 
than twenty days. Special meetings might be called 
by the governor, upon the recommendation of two- 
thirds of the members of the board. 

The secretary was appointed by the board, and it 
was his duty to keep records of the proceedings of all 
meetings of the board, and have them published for 
distribution among the several counties, townships,, 
and school districts. All of its rules and regulations 
were considered a part of the school law of the state, 
unless they were altered, amended, or repealed by the 
general assembly. The governor was, ex-officio, a mem- 
ber of the board. 

It had no power to levy taxes or make appropria- 
tions of money for any purpose, but all contingent 
expenses were provided for by law. It was the duty 



1 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 89 

of the board to provide for the education of all the 
youths of the state through a system of common 
schools, at least one of which was to be kept in each 
school district for not less than three months each 
year. The compensation of its members was the same 
as that of members of the general assembly, and 
mileage was also allowed each member for going to and 
returning from each session. 

A majority of the board was a quorum to transact 
business, but no rule, regulation, or law could be passed 
without the concurrence of a majority of all the mem- 
bers. The vote on the final passage of any measure 
was by yeas and nays. Section eleven provided for 
the establishment of the State University at one place 
without branches at any other place, and the univer- 
sity fund was secured to that institution and no other. 

Section fifteen provided that at any time after the 
year 1863, the general assembly might reorganize the 
board of education or abolish it altogether, and pro- 
vide for the educational interests of the state in some 
other way. The board was abolished by chapter fifty- 
two of the laws of 1864, and this part of article nine 
has not been in force since that time. 

SCHOOL FUNDS AND SCHOOL LANDS. 

The second division of this article places the 
school funds and school lands under the control of the 
general assembly. The proceeds arising from the rent 
or sale of the university lands constitute a fund for the 
use of the State University, and the interest arising 
from this fund is annually appropriated for the sup- 
port and benefit of that institution. A history of the 
university will be found in the chapter entitled " State 
Institutions." 



90 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

By section three, very liberal appropriations are 
made for the benefit of the common schools. The 
general assembly is instructed to encourage, by all 
suitable means, the promotion of intellectual, scientific, 
moral, and agricultural improvement. The different 
sources from which the permanent school fund is 
derived, have been mentioned in another part of this 
volume. The money paid by persons for exemption 
from military duty and the net proceeds of all fines 
collected in the several counties for any violation of 
the penal laws of the state, are applied for the benefit 
of the common schools in the counties in which the 
money is collected. All fines and forfeitures of this 
kind are distributed among the different school dis- 
tricts according to the number of persons of school 
age, to be used for the support of the schools, or the 
establishment of libraries. 

The financial agents of all school funds are the 
same as those authorized by law to receive and control 
the revenue of the state and of the different counties. 
The distribution of all money for the support of the 
common schools is made in proportion to the number 
of persons between the ages of five and twenty-one 
years. 

ARTICLE X. — AMENDMENTS. 

It is evident that no constitution can be prepared 
to meet the wants of all future times and generations. 
The best governments on earth are imperfect and 
require alterations from time to time. All constitu- 
tions provide for their own amendment, but the process 
differs in different states. But two amendments to the 
constitution of Iowa have been adopted, and one of 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 9I 

those, known as the prohibitory amendment, was 
declared unconstitutional by the supreme court of the 
state. This amendment was ratified by a vote of the 
people at a special election held on the 27th of June, 
1882. The other was declared by the governor, in 
1868, to be a part of the supreme law of the state, 
and extended the right of suffrage by striking out the 
word white from articles 2, 3, and 6, of the consti- 
tution. 

The process of amending the constitution of Iowa 
is quite a lengthy one, but it insures the people against 
hasty action on the part of their legislators. Amend- 
ments may be proposed in either house of the general 
assembly and if a majority of all the members elected 
to each house are in favor of it, the proposed amend- 
ment is entered upon both journals with the yeas and 
nays, and referred to the next general assembly at its 
regular session. The publication of the proposed 
amendment must be made for at least three months 
previous to the election of members of this general 
assembly. 

ARTICLE XI. — MISCELLANEOUS. 

Section one provides that the jurisdiction of justices 
of the peace shall extend to all civil cases (except 
chancery cases and those involving the title to real 
estate), where the amount does not exceed one hundred 
dollars. By the consent of both parties, the jurisdic- 
tion may be extended to any amount not exceeding 
three hundred dollars. 

The second section declares that no new county, 
containing less than four hundred and thirty-two 
square miles, can be created. The territory of any 
organized county cannot be reduced below that size. 



9 2 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

Provision is made for the organization of Worth and 
other Counties lying to the west of it along the north- 
ern boundary of the state, without additional territory. 
An act of the general assembly passed in January, 1870, 
erected the county of Crocker from the northern three 
tiers of townships in Kossuth County, but the supreme 
court declared the act unconstitutional in December 
of the following year. 

Section three. No county, or other political or 
municipal corporation, can become indebted in any 
manner, or for any purpose, to exceed the amount of 
five per cent, on the value of the taxable property. 
The value of the property of the county or other cor- 
poration is determined by the last state and county 
tax-lists previous to the time the debt was incurred. 

The next section provides that the boundaries of 
the state may be enlarged, with the consent of con- 
gress and the general assembly. According to the 
latest surveys, the area of the state comprises 56,025 
square miles. There are ninety-nine counties, and all 
but twenty-seven of them have been organized since 
the state was admitted into the Union. 

Section jive is as follows : " Every person, elected 
or appointed to any office, shall, before entering upon 
the discharge of the duties thereof, take an oath or 
affirmation to support the constitution of the United 
States, and of this state, and also an oath of office." 
The form of the oath is given elsewhere. The sixth 
section provides that persons elected to fill vacancies 
in office shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired 
term only, and all persons appointed to fill vacancies 
in office shall hold until the next general election, and 
until their successors are elected and qualified. 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 93 

The seventh section prohibits the general assem- 
bly from locating any of the public lands which 
have been or may be granted by congress to this state, 
upon lands actually settled, without the consent of the 
occupant. The last section establishes the seat of 
government permanently at Des Moines, in the county 
of Polk, and the State University at Iowa City, in 
Johnson County. 

ARTICLE XII. — SCHEDULE. 

The constitution is declared to be the supreme 
law of the state, and any law inconsistent with it shall 
be void. The general assembly was authorized to pass 
all laws necessary to carry the constitution into effect. 
All laws that were in force at the time the constitution 
was adopted, and not inconsistent with it, were to 
remain in force until they expired or were repealed. 

All proceedings of any characters pending in the 
courts at the time the constitution was adopted, were 
to be prosecuted to final judgment and execution, 
and all offenses, misdemeanors, and crimes that were 
committed before the adoption of the constitution 
were to be subject to indictment, trial, and punish- 
ment in the same manner as they would have been if 
the constitution had not been adopted. 

All fines, penalties, or forfeitures due, or to become 
due, to the state, or to any county, or to the school 
fund, were reserved to the fund for which they were 
intended, in the manner prescribed by law. All bonds 
executed to the state, or to any officer in his official 
capacity, were to inure to the use of those to whom 
they were given. 

Sections six to eleven inclusive, contain provisions 
for the election of officers under the new constitution, 



94 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

and for the continuance in office of those chosen prior 
to its adoption. Section twelve authorized the general 
assembly to divide the state into eleven judicial dis- 
tricts, for district court purposes, and also to provide 
for the apportionment of members ■ of the general 
assembly in accordance with the provisions of the new 
constitution. 

Section thirteen prescribes the plan to be pursued 
by the people in voting for or against the adoption of 
the new constitution. The last clause of the section 
is, "And if it shall appear that a majority of all the 
votes cast at such election for and against this consti- 
tution are in favor of the same, the governor shall 
immediately issue his proclamation stating that fact, 
and such constitution shall be the constitution of the 
state of Iowa, and shall take effect from and after the 
publication of said proclamation." 

The fourteenth section provides for submitting to 
the people at the same election that the constitution 
is submitted, a proposition to amend the same by 
striking out the word " white " from the article on the 
" Right of Suffrage." 

The election was held August 3, 1857, and a 
majority of the votes cast was found to be in favor of 
the adoption of the constitution. The vote was, 40,3 1 1 
for, and 38,681 against it. The proposed amendment 
was defeated at this time, but, as stated in another 
place, it was adopted in 1868. The last section made 
the county of Mills a part of the sixth judicial district 
until otherwise directed by law. 



STATE. 



Thus far the work has been confined to the civil 
government of Iowa as provided for in the constitution 
of the state. We shall now proceed to a discussion of 
the government as it now exists in state, county, town 
and township. 

The duties of the governor and lieutenant-gov- 
ernor have already been referred to in a general way. 
The Code of Iowa should be used as a book of refer- 
ence in the preparation of work on this subject and a 
full account of the duties of these officers will be found 
therein. The salary of the governor is three thousand 
dollars per year. 

STATE AUDITOR. 

The auditor is the general accountant of the state 
and to him is entrusted the task of keeping just 
accounts of all money belonging to the state as well 
as of all funds disbursed. He superintends the fiscal 
affairs of the state and. furnishes information with the 
proper forms to enable county auditors and treasurers 
to perform the duties of their respective offices. He 
draws warrants on the treasury for all appropriations 
authorized by law, and reports to the governor before 
each regular session of the general assembly, the 
amount of all revenue, funds, income, and taxable 
property of the state, together with the expenditures 
for all purposes since his last report. 
-95- 



96 STATE DEPARTMENT. 

On the first Monday of March and September of 
each year, he apportions the interest on the permanent 
school fund among the counties in proportion to the 
number of persons of school age in each. The office 
of the auditor is at the seat of government, and every- 
thing that is necessary to enable him to discharge the 
duties devolving upon him is furnished at the expense 
of the state. His bond is fixed at not less than ten 
thousand dollars. His salary is twenty-two hundred 
dollars per year, and that of his deputy, twelve hundred. 

SECRETARY. 

This officer has charge of all the records of the 
territorial government of Iowa, the enrolled copies of 
the constitutions, old and new, and all records not 
kept by the other executive officers. All commissions 
issued by the governor are countersigned by him, and 
a record of them is kept in a register provided for that 
purpose. He is also required to make a biennial report 
to the governor of the condition of the criminal affairs 
as reported to him by the clerks of the district courts. 
Prior to the first Monday in January, 1883, a register 
of the land office had charge of certain matters per- 
taining to titles of land, but at that date, the office of 
register was discontinued and the duties of that officer 
have been performed by the secretary of state since 
that time. His bond is fixed at not less than $5,000. 
Salary, twenty-two hundred dollars per year, — deputy, 
twelve hundred. 

STATE TREASURER. 

The treasurer receives all moneys belonging to the 
state and pays all warrants drawn upon the treasury by 
the auditor. He keeps a record of all warrants paid 



STATE DEPARTMENT. 97 

by him, and reports to the auditor once a week the 
number and amount of all warrants paid since his last 
report, and also the name of the payee in each case. 
A report of the affairs of his office must be made to 
the governor as soon as practicable after the first Mon- 
day of November in each odd-numbered year. His 
bond is fixed at not less than three hundred thousand 
dollars. His salary is twenty-two hundred, and that 
of his deputy, twelve hundred dollars per year. 

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. 

The governor, auditor, secretary and treasurer of 
state, compose the executive council. Any three of 
these officers constitute a quorum for the transaction 
of business. The duties of this body are numerous 
and important, for to it is given the general manage- 
ment of the property of the state. The executive 
council acts as a board to audit accounts of supplies 
furnished the different state officers, and provides 
paper for the public printing as well as stationery for 
the general assembly, the public offices, and the 
supreme court. All warrants drawn by this board are 
paid out of the public treasury, but all moneys so 
drawn must be reported to the next general assembly. 
The officers that compose this council receive five hun- 
dred dollars each for their services in addition to their 
salaries. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 

To this officer is entrusted the general supervision 
of all the county superintendents and all the common 
schools of the state. He meets the county superin- 
tendents in convention for the purpose of giving expla- 
nation and instruction that will lead to uniformity in 



9b STATE DEPARTMENT. 

the school work of the different counties. He renders 
a written opinion to any school officer asking it, con- 
cerning any portion of the school law, and also decides 
all appeals from the decisions of county superintend- 
ents. At the end of every fourth year, he may have 
a sufficient number of the school laws and decisions 
printed to supply each district in the state with at least 
one copy, bound in cloth. 

His report to the general assembly at each regular 
session embraces the number of teachers, schools, and 
school-houses, the condition of the public schools, and 
such other information as has been reported to him by 
the county superintendents. One thousand copies of 
this report are printed and presented to the general 
assembly on the second day of its session. It is also 
his duty to appoint a normal institute in each county, 
annually, upon the assurance of the county superin- 
tendent that at least twenty teachers desire to attend 
such a meeting. 

He is provided with an office at the seat of gov- 
ernment, in which he keeps all the records, reports, 
and other public documents belonging to his office. 
His bond is not less than two thousand dollars. His 
compensation is twenty-two hundred per annum, and 
that of his deputy, twelve hundred. 

ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

The attorney general is a lawyer who acts as coun- 
sel for the general assembly and state officers, and 
appears for the state in all cases, civil or criminal, in 
which the state is a party, when requested to do so by 
the governor, executive council, or general assembly. 
He appears as prosecuting attorney for the state in all 



STATE DEPARTMENT. 99 

criminal cases tried by the supreme court upon appeal 
from the district court. At the request of any state 
officer or district attorney, it is his duty to give his opin- 
ion in writing upon any question of law that may be 
submitted to him. 

He reports to the general assembly such informa- 
tion concerning the business of his office as may be 
required by that body. His salary is fixed at fifteen 
hundred dollars per year, and, in addition to this, he 
receives five dollars per day for attending all sessions 
of the supreme court not held at the capitol. He is 
also entitled to certain fees for services rendered in 
accordance with the provisions of chapters on insurance 
in the Code of Iowa. 

ADJUTANT GENERAL. 

The adjutant-general is an officer appointed by 
the governor to act as inspector and paymaster-general 
of the militia. His rank is brigadier-general. On or 
before the first Monday in January of the year follow- 
ing the one in which the census of the state is taken, 
he reports to the adjutant-general of the United 
States, the whole number of persons in the state sub- 
ject to military duty. He issues all orders of the gov- 
ernor relating to military law, and causes them to be 
published from time to time as it becomes necessary. 
He keeps a roll of all commissioned officers of the 
militia, with their residence, and rank, and such other 
information as may «be necessary concerning them. 
His salary is two thousand dollars per annum. 
STATE PRINTER. 

The state printer is elected by joint ballot of the 
general assembly, and holds his office for two years 



fOO STATE DEPARTMENT. 

from the first day of May in the year following his 
election. His office is at the seat of government, and 
it is his duty to print the journals of both houses of 
the general assembly, and the laws enacted by that 
body, as well as all forms, blanks, and other incidental 
matter required by the different state officers. His 
work must be promptly done in a workmanlike manner, 
and for it he receives compensation fixed by law, the 
amount of which depends upon the work done. His 
bond is not less than five thousand dollars, and must 
be signed by at least three sureties. 

STATE BINDER. 

This officer is elected in the same manner as the 
state printer, and enters upon the discharge of his 
duties at the same time. His duty is to bind the laws, 
journals, and such incidental printed matter as may be 
required for the use of the state. The work must be 
done in a neat and workmanlike manner, and to secure 
this, he is required to furnish a bond of not less than 
two thousand dollars. His salary depends upon the 
amount of work done, the prices of the different kinds 
of work being fixed by law. 

RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS. 

In 1878, an act was passed by the general assem- 
bly, authorizing the governor to appoint three railroad 
commissioners, to serve for the term of one, two, and 
three years respectively, from the first day of April in 
that year. The governor appoints one commissioner 
annually, whose term of office commences April 1, of 
the year in which he is appointed, and continues three 
years. All appointments of this kind, however, must 
be sanctioned by the executive council. At least one 



STATE DEPARTMENT. IOI 

of the members of this board must be a civil engineer, 
and no person having a pecuniary interest in any rail- 
road is eligible to the office of railroad commissioner. 

These commissioners have the general supervision 
of all railroads operated by steam in the state, and it 
is their duty to see that the laws governing railroad 
companies and employes are strictly complied with. 
The books of any railroad company, at any station or 
office, are open to inspection by this board, and any 
officer or agent may be examined under oath. 

On or before the first day of December of each 
year they report to the governor the work done by 
them during the past year, and make such recommen- 
dations in relation to their duties as they may think 
necessary. With the consent of the executive coun- 
cil, any or all of- the commissioners may be removed 
by the governor and new ones appointed in their stead. 

Each commissioner receives an annual salary of 
three thousand dollars, and the clerk, fifteen hundred. 
To secure the faithful performance of his duties, each 
commissioner is obliged to give bonds to the amount 
of ten thousand dollars. Members of the board and 
the clerk are sworn to perform the duties devolving 
upon them to the best of their ability. 

STATE LIBRARIAN. 

This officer, appointed by the governor, has charge 
of the state library, and is required to give personal 
attention to the duties of his office during the time 
the library is kept open. Certain other duties are 
assigned him by law, among which is that of preparing 
a complete alphabetical catalogue of all books belong- 
ing to the library. He reports to the governor at 



102 STATE DEPARTMENT. 

stated times, the number and title of all books in the 
library, the amount of all fines and forfeitures received, 
and such other information as may be required. 

His bond is fixed at five hundred dollars, his salary 
at one thousand per year, and that of his deputy, five 
hundred. 

OTHER OFFICERS. 

In addition to the officers already mentioned, there 
are several others to whom special powers are granted. 
These are, in most cases, appointed by the governor, 
subject to the approval of the executive council. The 
principal ones are, an inspector of coal mines, salary 
fifteen hundred dollars per year ; a fish commissioner 
and a commissioner of immigration, at an annual salary 
of twelve hundred dollars each. The salaries of these 
officers are payable quarterly, those of all other state 
officers in equal installments at the end of each month. 

QUALIFICATION. 

No civil officer can enter upon the discharge of 
his duties until he has qualified according to law. The 
governor and lieutenant-governor are required to take 
the official oath in the presence of the general assem- 
bly in joint convention. The oath is administered to 
them by a judge of the supreme court. Members of 
the general assembly qualify by taking the oath pre- 
scribed for them in the third article of the constitu- 
tion. 

In addition to the obligation to support the con- 
stitution of the United States and that of the state of 
Iowa, judges of the supreme, district, and circuit courts 
must subscribe to an oath in writing, that they will 
administer justice to rich and poor alike, without fear, 



STATE DEPARTMENT. IO3 

favor, affection, or hope of reward. The officers above 
mentioned, together with county supervisors and town- 
ship trustees, are not required to give bonds. 

All other civil officers are required to give sureties 
in double the amount to be secured. For example, if 
the bond is fixed at one thousand dollars, the signers 
must have property valued at two thousand dollars 
above all indebtedness. The amount of the bond 
required differs according to the responsibility of the 
office and the amount of money to be handled. The 
bond of the state treasurer cannot be less than three 
hundred thousand dollars, and is the heaviest one 
required. Bonds of state officers are fixed by law and 
approved by the governor, those of the county officers 
by the county supervisors. 

TOWNSHIP CLERK. 

The township clerk approves the bonds of all 
township officers except his own and those of justices 
of the peace and constables. All officers are required 
to qualify before a stated time, usually the first Monday 
of January following their election, and a refusal to 
qualify within the time prescribed is considered a refusal 
to serve. 

Chapter 175, Laws of the Nineteenth General 
Assembly, requires a number of the state officers and 
trustees of the various state institutions, except the 
Agricultural College, to report to the governor, on or 
before the fifteenth day of August, in each odd-num- 
bered year, the condition of their respective offices 
and of the institutions under their control. 



COURTS. 



The constitution provides for the establishment of 
the supreme and district courts, and such others as 
may be authorized by law. The principal courts besides 
those already mentioned, are the circuit and justice 
courts. 

SUPREME COURT. 

The meetings of the supreme court are held as 
follows : Two terms each year at the capitol, one com- 
mencing on the first Monday in June, the other on the 
first Monday in December ; two at Davenport, one 
commencing on the first Monday in April, the other on 
the first Monday in October ; two at Dubuque, one 
commencing on the third Monday in April, the other 
on the third Monday in October* and two at Council 
Bluffs, one commencing on the third Monday in March, 
the other on the third Monday in September. 

The place at which an appeal from any county 
shall be heard is determined by law, but, with the con- 
sent of the appellee indorsed in writing upon the notice 
of appeal, the appeal may be taken to any place where 
meetings of the supreme court are held. In civil suits, 
appeals must be taken within six months from the time 
the decision was rendered by the lower court, and, 
within a year, in criminal cases. 
— 104 — 



COURTS OF IOWA. IO5 

DISTRICT COURT. 

The district court has general original jurisdiction 
in all cases, both civil and criminal, when not other- 
wise provided, and appellate jurisdiction in all criminal 
cases. It also has the general supervision over all 
inferior courts and officers, in all criminal matters, to* 
prevent and correct abuses, where no other remedy is 
provided. 

This court has exclusive jurisdiction over all indict- 
ments presented by the grand jury. An indictment 
is a written accusation presented to the court in which 
the grand jury is impaneled, charging the person 
named therein with the violation of the criminal law, 
or the commission of some act which is punishable on 
indictment. Such an accusation can be made only 
upon the sworn statement of witnesses examined by 
the grand jury, or by evidence furnished by certain 
legal documents as provided by law. 

All qualified electors of the state, of good moral 
character, sound judgment, and in full possession of 
the senses of hearing and seeing, are competent jurors 
in their respective counties. There are certain excep- 
tions, however. All persons holding office under the 
laws of the United States, or of this state, all practic- 
ing attorneys, physicians, and clergymen, all practicing 
professors or teachers in any institution of learning, 
and all persons disabled by bodily infirmity, or over 
sixty-five years of age, are exempt from liability to 
act as jurors. Any person summoned to act as a juror 
may be excused from serving for good cause shown. 

The grand jury consists of fifteen members, and, 
in counties having less than fifteen thousand inhabi- 
tants, the number of trial, or petit jurors is the same, 



Io6 COURTS OF IOWA. 

unless the judge otherwise directs. In counties having 
more than fifteen thousand inhabitants, the number of 
petit jurors is twenty-four. 

The manner of selecting grand and petit jurors is 
substantially the same. A list of the names of sev- 
enty-five persons is made in each county, each year, 
and is called the grand jury list. The petit jury list 
comprises one hundred and fifty names, and, in coun- 
ties having more than twenty thousand inhabitants, 
two hundred and fifty names. The manner of prepar- 
ing the lists is given below : 

On or before the first Monday in September of each 
year, the county auditor apportions the number of 
grand and petit jurors, to be selected from each voting 
precinct, in proportion to the number of votes cast at 
the last general election. A statement of this appor- 
tionment is given to the sheriff of the county, and he 
causes a written notice to be delivered to one of the 
judges of election in each voting precinct, on or before 
the day of election. The judges of election then make 
a list of names of the number required, and forward it 
to the county auditor, with the returns of the election. 
Grand jurors serve for one year, and petit jurors during 
one term of court in each year, usually. 

At least twenty days prior to the first day of any 
term of court at which a jury is to be selected, the 
auditor writes, upon separate ballots, the names on the 
lists of all those who have not served as jurors during 
that year. The clerk of the court and the sheriff then 
place these ballots in a box and mix them thoroughly. 
The clerk then draws from the box the requisite num- 
ber of ballots, and, within three days thereafter, issues 
an order to the sheriff commanding him to summon 



COURTS 0% IOWA. I07 

the persons chosen, to serve as jurors at the next term 
of court. 

This order must be obeyed by the sheriff imme- 
diately, and his returns made before the day for the 
appearance of the jurors. At the close of each term 
of court, the clerk issues a certificate to each juror, 
showing the amount to which he is entitled for his 
services, and the auditor, upon the receipt of this cer- 
tificate, is authorized to issue a warrant upon the 
county treasurer, without waiting for the board of 
supervisors to audit the claim. 

CIRCUIT COURT. 

The circuit court has concurrent jurisdiction with 
the district court in all civil actions and special pro- 
ceedings, and exclusive jurisdiction in all appeals and 
writs of error from inferior courts, tribunals, or officers, 
and a general supervision thereof, in all civil matters 
to prevent and correct abuses, where no other remedy 
is provided. The circuit court also has exclusive juris- 
diction of the probate of wills, and the appointment 
of executors, administrators, and trustees to settle the 
estates of deceased persons. The appointment of guar- 
dians of minors, insane persons, and others requiring 
guardianship, is also left to this court. 

For convenience, the state is divided into fourteen 
judicial districts, as follows: 

First district. — The counties of Des Moines, Lee, 
Henry and Louisa. 

First circuit of first district. — The counties of Lee 
and Henry. 

Second circuit of first district. — The counties of Des 
Moines and Louisa. 



108 COURTS OF IOWA. 

Second district and circuit. — The counties of Van 
Buren, Davis, Wapello, Monroe, Appanoose, Lucas 
and Wayne. 

Third district and circuit. — The counties of Mont- 
gomery, Page, Taylor, Ringgold, Decatur, Clarke, 
Union and Adams. 

Fourth district and circuit. — The counties of Har- 
rison, Monona, Woodbury, Plymouth, O'Brien, Sioux, 
Lyon and Osceola. 

Fifth district. — The counties of Polk, Warren, 
Madison, Adair, Guthrie and Dallas. 

First circuit of fifth district. — The counties of 
Polk and Warren. 

Second circuit of fifth district. — The counties of 
Madison, Adair, Guthrie and Dallas. 

Sixth district and circuit. — The counties of Jasper, 
Marion, Powesheik, Mahaska, Keokuk, Washington 
and Jefferson. 

Seventh district. — The counties of Scott, Musca- 
tine, Clinton and Jackson. 

First circuit of seventh district. — The counties of 
Clinton and Jackson. 

Second circuit of seventh district. — The counties of 
Scott and Muscatine. 

Eighth district and circuit. — The counties of John- 
son, Tama, Iowa, Benton, Linn, Cedar and Jones. 

Ninth district and circuit. — The counties of Du- 
buque, Delaware, Buchanan, Black Hawk and Grundy. 

Tenth district and circuit. — The counties of Clay- 
ton, Allamakee, Fayette, Winnesheik, Howard and 
Chickasaw. 



COURTS OF IOWA. IO9 

Eleventh district and circuit. — The counties of 
Marshall, Story, Boone, Webster, Hamilton, Hardin, 
Wright and Franklin. 

Twelfth district and circuit. — The counties of 
Mitchell, Floyd, Bremer, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Worth, 
Winnebago and Hancock. 

Thirteenth district and circuit. — -The counties of 
Fremont, Mills, Audubon, Pottawattamie, Cass, Craw- 
ford, Shelby, Carroll and Greene. 

Fourteenth district and circuit. — The counties of 
Calhoun, Sac, Ida, Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Hum- 
boldt, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Clay, Dickinson and Emmet. 

Judges of the district and circuit courts, and dis- 
trict attorneys, are elected by the people of their 
respective districts, for the term of four years. In 
the year 1882, a district judge and a district attor- 
ney were chosen in each judicial district except the 
twelfth and thirteenth. The election of these officers 
in the twelfth and thirteenth districts will occur this 
year, 1884. Successors to all the circuit judges will 
also be chosen at the coming election. 

The district attorney appears for the state and the 
counties of his district in any suit in which the state, 
or any such county may be interested, in the district 
or circuit courts and before any judge on a writ of 
habeas corpus issued in behalf of any person charged 
with, or convicted of a public offense within his dis- 
trict. When any of the above proceedings are taken 
from his district to the supreme court, it is his duty to 
furnish a brief, containing the substance of the pro- 
ceedings and the questions involved in the case. This 
report must be filed with the attorney-general before 
the case is set for hearing in the supreme court. He 



COURTS OF IOWA. 



must also appear for the state, or any county, in any 
proceeding brought to his district from any other on 
change of venue. 

The district attorney acts as counsel for the county 
officers within his district, and, when requested, must 
give his opinion, in writing, upon any question of law 
submitted to him by any of these officers. He is not 
entitled to a fee for such service. All moneys coming 
into his hands by virtue of his office, and belonging to 
the state, or any county, must be paid by him to the 
proper officer who is entitled by law to receive it. 

The compensation of each judge of the district 
and circuit courts is twenty-two hundred dollars per 
annum, payable in equal monthly installments. In 
addition to an annual salary of six hundred dollars, 
each district attorney is entitled to receive the follow- 
ing fees : 

For each conviction on a plea of guilty, five dol- 
lars ; 

For each jury trial in cases of misdemeanor, ten 
dollars ; 

For each jury trial in cases of felony, twenty 
dollars ; 

For each judgment for costs only, five dollars; 

For prosecuting an information before a justice of 
the peace for a violation of the laws relating to the 
sale of intoxicating liquors, five dollars ; 

For all fines and forfeitures actually collected by 
him, ten per cent, upon all sums less than two hundred 
dollars, and one per cent, for all sums exceeding that 
amount. 

The testimony given by witnesses in these courts 
is usually recorded by short-hand reporters, who are 



COURTS OF IOWA. 



allowed compensation not to exceed six dollars per 
day for every day actually spent in attendance upon 
court. They are entitled to the further compensation 
of six cents for every one hundred words used in 
making transcripts of the testimony taken in court. 

The compensation of judges and district attorneys 
cannot be increased during the time for which they 
were elected. Jurors are allowed two dollars per day 
for each day's service in attending the sessions of the 
district and circuit courts, and ten cents per mile for 
•each mile traveled in going from their homes to the 
place of trial. 




CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS. 



It has been found necessary to district the state 
for other than judicial purposes. By the provisions of 
the constitution of the United States, senators in con- 
gress are chosen by the legislatures of the different, 
states, from the states at large. Each state, no matter 
what its population may be, can have only two sena- 
tors. Representatives in congress are apportioned 
among the several states according to the population 
of each. The ratio of apportionment now is, one rep- 
resentative for every one hundred and fifty-one thou- 
sand, nine hundred and twelve inhabitants, or fraction 
thereof more than one-half. According to this basis, 
Iowa now has eleven representatives in congress, and 
the state is divided into eleven congressional districts. 

First district. — The counties of Lee, Des Moines, 
Henry, Van Buren, Jefferson, Washington and Louisa. 

Second district. — The counties of Jones, Jackson, 
Clinton, Cedar, Scott and Muscatine. 

Third district. — The counties of Dubuque, Dela- 
ware, Buchanan, Black Hawk, Bremer, Butler and 
Grundy. 

Fourth district. — The counties of Clayton, Fay- 
ette, Winneshiek, Allamakee, Howard, Mitchell, Floyd 
and Chickasaw. 



CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS. II3 

Fifth district, — The counties of Marshall, Tama, 
Benton, Linn, Johnson and Iowa. 

Sixth district. — The counties of Jasper, Poweshiek, 
Mahaska, Monroe, Wapello, Keokuk and Davis. 

Seventh district.— The counties of Guthrie, Dallas, 
Polk, Adair, Madison, Warren and Marion. 

Eighth district. — The counties of Clarke, Lucas, 
Ringgold, Decatur, Wayne, Appanoose, Union, Adams, 
Page and Taylor. 

Ninth district. — The counties of Pottawattamie, 
Cass, Mills, Audubon, Crawford, Montgomery, Shelby, 
Fremont and Harrison. 

Tenth district. — The counties of Boone, Story, 
Hardin, Hamilton, Webster, Franklin, Wright, Hum- 
boldt, Hancock, Cerro Gordo, Worth, Winnebago and 
Kossuth. 

Eleventh district. — The counties of Lyon, Osceola, 
Dickinson, Emmet, Sioux, O'Brien, Clay, Palo Alto, 
Plymouth, Cherokee, Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Wood- 
bury, Ida, Sac, Calhoun, Monona, Carroll and Greene. 

Representatives to congress are chosen at the gen- 
eral election in each even-numbered year, and hold 
their office for two years. 




SENATORIAL DISTRICTS. 



The state is divided into fifty senatorial districts, 
and each district is entitled to one senator. The ratio 
of apportionment is one senator for every forty-six 
thousand inhabitants, or fractional part of that num- 
ber more than one-half. At the time the division was 
made, no district contained forty-six thousand inhabi- 
tants, the largest district being Dubuque county with 
a population of forty-two thousand nine hundred and 
ninety-seven. These are the districts as established 
by the Nineteenth General Assembly. 

Lee county constitutes the first district, Van Buren 
and Davis counties constitute the second, Appanoose 
and Monroe counties the third, Wayne and Lucas the 
fourth, Clarke and Decatur the fifth, Ringgold, Tay- 
lor and Union the sixth, Fremont and Page the 
seventh, Mills and Montgomery the eighth, Des Moines 
the ninth, Jefferson and Henry the tenth, Louisa and 
Washington the eleventh, Keokuk and Iowa the twelfth, 
Wapello the thirteenth, Mahaska the fourteenth, Mar- 
ion the fifteenth, Madison and Warren the sixteenth, 
Audubon, Guthrie and Dallas the seventeenth, Adams, 
Adair and Cass the eighteenth, Pottawattamie the nine- 
teenth, Muscatine the twentieth, Scott the twenty- 
first, Clinton the twenty-second, Jackson the twenty- 
third, Cedar and Jones the twenty-fourth, and Johnson 
county the twenty-fifth district. 
—114— 



SENATORIAL DISTRICTS. U5 

Linn county constitutes the twenty-sixth district, 
Benton the twenty-seventh, Marshall the twenty- 
eighth, Jasper the twenty-ninth, Polk the thirtieth, 
Boone and Story the thirty-first, Hardin and Grundy 
the thirty-second, Buchanan and Delaware the thirty- 
third, Harrison and Shelby the thirty-fourth, Dubuque 
the thirty-fifth, Clayton the thirty-sixth, Hamilton, 
Webster and Wright the thirty-seventh, Black Hawk 
the thirty-eighth, Butler and Bremer the thirty-ninth, 
Allamakee and Fayette the fortieth, Howard, Mitchell 
and Worth the forty-first, Winneshiek the forty-second, 
Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Hancock and Winnebago the 
forty-third, Chickasaw and Floyd the forty-fourth, 
Poweshiek and Tama the forty-fifth, Woodbury, Mo- 
nona and Crawford the forty-sixth, Humboldt, Poca- 
hontas, Palo Alto, Emmet, Kossuth and Clay the forty- 
seventh, Greene, Carroll and Calhoun the forty-eighth, 
Plymouth, Sioux, Lyon, Osceola, O'Brien and Dickin- 
son the forty-ninth, and Buena Vista, Cherokee, Sac 
and Ida counties form the fiftieth district. 




REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS. 



The Nineteenth General Assembly apportioned 
the state into eighty-eight representative districts, and 
fixed the ratio of representation at one representative 
for every sixteen thousand eight hundred and fifty 
inhabitants in each district. Twelve of these districts 
have two representatives each, making the member- 
ship of the lower house one hundred, the largest num- 
ber possible under the constitution. 

Lee county is the first district, Des Moines the 
second, Henry the third, Jefferson the fourth, Van 
Buren fifth, Wapello sixth, Davis seventh, Monroe 
eighth, Appanoose ninth, Lucas tenth, Wayne eleventh, 
Clarke twelfth, Decatur thirteenth, Union fourteenth, 
Ringgold fifteenth, Adams sixteenth, Taylor seven- 
teenth, Montgomery eighteenth, Page nineteenth, 
Mills twentieth, Fremont twenty-first, Pottawattamie 
twenty-second, Cass twenty-third, Adair twenty-fourth, 
Madison twenty-fifth, Warren twenty-sixth, Marion 
twenty-seventh, Mahaska twenty-eighth, Keokuk twen- 
ty-ninth, Washington thirtieth, Louisa thirty-'first, 
Muscatine thirty-second, Scott thirty-third, Cedar 
thirty-fourth, Johnson thirty-fifth, Iowa thirty-sixth^ 
Poweshiek thirty-seventh, Jasper thirty-eighth, Polk 
thirty-ninth, Dallas fortieth, Guthrie forty-first, Har- 
rison forty-second, Boone forty-third, and Story the 
forty-fourth district. 



REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS. II7 

Marshall is the forty-fifth district, Tama forty- 
sixth, Benton forty-seventh, Linn forty-eighth, Jones 
forty-ninth, Clinton fiftieth, Jackson fifty-first, Dubuque 
fifty-second, Delaware fifty-third, Buchanan fifty-fourth, 
Black Hawk fifty-fifth, Grundy fifty-sixth, Hardin fifty- 
seventh, Hamilton fifty-eighth, Webster fifty-ninth, 
Woodbury sixtieth, Butler sixty-first, Bremer sixty- 
second, Fayette sixty-third, Clayton sixty-fourth, Alla- 
makee sixty-fifth, Winneshiek sixty-sixth, Howard six- 
ty-seventh, Chickasaw sixty-eighth, Mitchell sixty- 
ninth, Floyd seventieth, Plymouth seventy-first, Sioux, 
Lyon and Osceola seventy-second, Monona seventy- 
third, Crawford seventy-fourth, Ida and Buena Vista 
seventy-fifth, Cherokee and Clay seventy-sixth, Sac 
seventy-seventh, Calhoun and Pocahontas seventy- 
eighth, Greene seventy-ninth, Carroll eightieth, Shelby 
eighty-first, Audubon eighty-second, O'Brien and Dick- 
inson eighty-third, Palo Alto, Emmet and Kossuth 
eighty-fourth, Humboldt and Wright eighty-fifth, Win- 
nebago, Hancock and Worth eighty-sixth, Cerro Gordo 
eighty-seventh, and Franklin county the eighty-eighth 
district. 

The first, second, sixth, twenty-second, thirty- 
third, thirty-fifth, thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth, forty- 
eighth, fiftieth, fifty-second and the sixty-fourth dis- 
tricts have two representatives each. 



COUNTIES. 



A table of the counties of Iowa will be found as 
an appendix to this work. In most cases, the bounda- 
ries of the counties conform to the range and township 
lines which were established by the government survey. 
The counties along the eastern and western boundaries 
of the state, owing to the irregular course of the rivers, 
vary from the prevailing rectangular form. In each 
county, the people have selected a place, usually near 
the center of the county, at which to transact busi- 
ness of a public character. The offices of the county 
are usually kept at this place in rooms in the court- 
house, a building fitted up for this purpose. 
OFFICERS. 

The officers are, the board of supervisors, one audi- 
tor, one clerk of the district and circuit courts, one 
sheriff, one treasurer, one recorder, one superintendent 
of schools, one coroner, and one surveyor. The audi- 
tor, treasurer, clerk and sheriff are each allowed a deputy 
in most counties. 

These officers are chosen by the people at the gen- 
eral election, and all except the supervisors hold for 
two years only, unless re-elected. The clerk of the 
courts and recorder are elected in the even-numbered 
years, and all the others in the odd-numbered years. 
At least one supervisor is chosen every year. The 
~uS— 



COUNTY OFFICERS. 1 19 

principal duties of each officer will now be discussed. 
For the special powers of each reference should be 
made to the Code of Iowa and the Session Laws, or 
Acts of the General Assembly. 

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. 

The board of supervisors consists of not less than 
thre^ nor more than seven, members. Their term of 
office is three years. The only qualification required 
of members of this board is, that they be legal voters 
in the county in which they are chosen, but no two 
members can be elected from the same township. 
Regular meetings of the board are held on the first 
Mondays of January, April, June and September, and 
the first Monday after each general election. At the 
first meeting in each year, a chairman is elected from 
among the members, whose duty it is to preside at all 
meetings of the board during that year. 

If any supervisor neglects or refuses to perform 
any of the duties devolving upon him as a member of 
the board, without just cause, he is liable to a fine of 
one hundred dollars for each offense. This board has 
control of the property of the county, the court-house 
and other public buildings, and the care of the poor. 
In many of the counties, a poor house and farm are 
supported at public expense. It is the duty of this 
board to examine, settle, and allow all just claims 
against the county unless some other means are pro- 
vided by law. 

The supervisors manage and control the school- 
fund, change the boundary line of townships when nec- 
essary, and act as commissioners of highways. They 
provide for the building of all bridges which cannot be 



120 COUNTY OFFICERS. 

constructed by the different road districts for lack of 
funds. 

The supervisors, at their September session, levy 
the following taxes upon the assessed value of the taxa- 
ble property in the county. For state purposes, not to 
exceed two mills on the dollar. For ordinary county 
revenue, not more than six mills and a poll-tax of fifty 
cents. • 

The support of schools, not less than one, nor 
more than three mills. 

For making and repairing bridges, not more than 
three mills on a dollar. 

Certain classes of property are exempt from taxa- 
tion, and are not assessed. The property of the United 
States and of the state of Iowa, including school lands 
and all property leased to the state ; the property of 
counties, townships, cities, incorporated towns and 
school districts when used exclusively for the use of 
the public and not held for pecuniary profit ; the prop- 
erty of literary, scientific, benevolent, agricultural, and 
religious institutions which is devoted to the appro- 
priate uses of these institutions ; the estates of persons 
who by reason of age or infirmity are unable to con- 
tribute to the public revenue ; farming utensils and the 
tools of any mechanic, not to exceed three hundred 
dollars in either case, and government or state lands 
for the year in which they were entered, cannot be 
taxed. 

Each member of the board of supervisors receives 
four dollars for each day actually in session, and two 
dollars and fifty cents when not in session but employed 
on committee service. Mileage is allowed for going to 
and returning from each session of the board and for 



COUNTY OFFICERS. 121 

attendance on committee work. The rate is six cents 
for each mile traveled. 

COUNTY AUDITOR. 

The county auditor is clerk of the board of super- 
visors, and it his duty to record the proceedings of 
that body in books provided for that purpose. He 
signs all orders issued by the board for the payment of 
money, and acts as general accountant for the county. 
He reports to the secretary of state the name, office, 
and term of office of each county officer, within ten 
days after his election and qualification. 

The auditor prepares and furnishes two poll-books 
for each voting precinct in the county, and forwards 
an abstract of the votes cast at each election to the 
secretary of state. The bond of this officer is fixed 
by the board of supervisors, and cannot be less than 
five thousand dollars. The bonds of the county and 
township officers are recorded in the auditor's office, 
his own excepted, which is filed with the county treas- 
urer, and those of justices of the peace, which are filed 
by the auditor in the office of the clerk of the court. 
The loaning and general management of the perma- 
nent school fund as well as the apportioning of the 
county school fund and interest on the permanent fund, 
is left with the county auditor. His salary is fixed by 
law, and, in counties having less than twenty-five thou- 
sand inhabitants, it is twelve hundred dollars per annum. 
In counties having a greater population, the board of 
supervisors may allow such additional compensation as 
they deem just and proper. 

COUNTY TREASURER. 

The treasurer receives all money belonging to the 
county and pays it out only upon warrants drawn and 



122 COUNTY OFFICERS. 

signed by the county auditor, and sealed with the 
county seal. He keeps a record of all moneys received 
and warrants paid, and holds the same, at all times, 
ready for the inspection of the board of supervisors. 
He keeps a separate account of the several taxes for 
state, county, school, and highway purposes, charging 
himself with the amount of the tax, and crediting him- 
self with the amounts paid out and also with the 
amount of delinquent taxes when legally authorized to 
do so. Taxes under the law now in force become due 
on the first day of November of each year, and delin- 
quent on the first day of February of the following 
year. If the taxes are not paid before the first of 
March, the treasurer collects interest upon the amount 
due from each tax-payer at the rate of one per cent, a 
month for the first three months, two per cent, a month 
for the second three months, and three per cent, for 
each following month. The Twentieth General Assem- 
bly enacted a new tax law, by the provisions of which 
taxes become due January 1st of the year following 
the levy, and delinquent April 1st, but no interest can 
be charged upon any person's tax before September 
1st, provided one-half of such tax is paid before April 
1st. The treasurer makes out and delivers to each 
tax-payer a receipt stating the time of payment, the 
description and assessed value of each parcel of land, 
the assessed value of personal property, the amount of 
each kind of tax, the interest on each, and the costs, 
if any, giving a separate receipt for each year. 

Section 871, Code of Iowa, is as follows: On the 
first Monday of October in each year, the county treas- 
urer is required to offer at public sale at his office, all 
lands, town lots, or other real property on which taxes 



COUNTY OFFICERS. t23 

of any description for the preceding year, or years, 
shall remain due and unpaid, and such sale shall be 
made for and in payment of the total amount of taxes, 
interests, and costs due and unpaid on such real prop- 
erty. 

For good cause, the treasurer may adjourn the 
sale to the first Monday of November or December. 
The bond of the treasurer cannot be less than five 
thousand dollars, but usually it is much more than that 
amount. It will be safe to say that the average amount 
of bonds required of county treasurers throughout the 
state is fifty thousand dollars. In counties having less 
than ten thousand inhabitants, the compensation of 
this officer cannot exceed thirteen hundred dollars 
with an allowance of three hundred dollars for clerk 
hire ; in counties having a population of more than ten 
and less than thirty thousand, the compensation cannot 
exceed fifteen hundred dollars, with six hundred dol- 
lars for clerk hire ; and in counties having a population 
of more than thirty thousand, the supervisors may 
allow such additional compensation as they may con- 
sider necessary. 

CLERK OF THE COURTS. 

The clerk of the district court is also clerk of the 
circuit court. He attends all sessions of both courts, 
and keeps their records, papers, and seals. He keeps a 
book known as the record book, in which are recorded 
the proceedings of each court ; a judgment docket, in 
which to keep an abstract of all judgments with the 
necessary information pertaining thereto ; a fee book, 
in which to enter in detail the costs and fees in each 
proceeding ; an incumbrance book, in which the sheriff 
enters a statement of the levy of each attachment of 



124 COUNTY OFFICERS. 

real estate ; an appearante docket, in which all suits are 
entered in the order in which they are begun ; and a 
book in which to keep a record of all liens in district 
or circuit courts. 

On or before the first Monday of November in each 
year, he is required to report to the secretary of state, 
the number of convictions for crimes and misdemean- 
ors in the district court for the preceding year. This 
report shows the character of each offense and the sen- 
tence of punishment, the occupation of the person con- 
victed, whether he can read and write, his general 
habits, and also the entire expenses of the county for 
criminal prosecutions during the year. 

It is the duty of this officer as clerk of the circuit 
court, to issue marriage licenses when application is 
properly made. He keeps a register which contains 
the names of the parties, the date of the marriage, 
and the name of the person by whom it was solemnized. 
During any time when the circuit court is not in ses- 
sion the clerk has power to appoint executors, admin- 
istrators, guardians, and appraisers, who perform the 
duties devolving upon them until their appointments 
can be acted upon by the court at its next term. All 
bonds relating to the probate of wills must be filed 
with the clerk of this court and approved by him. 

The clerk may appoint a deputy to aid him in 
transacting the business of his office, but neither of 
these officers can, during the time of his official incum- 
brance, hold the office of justice of the peace, or act 
as attorney or solicitor in any case in either court. 
His bond cannot be less than five thousand dollars, and 
his compensation varies according to the population 
of the county in which he serves. In counties having 



COUNTY OFFICERS. I25 

less than ten thousand inhabitants, the salary cannot 
exceed eleven hundred dollars; in counties having 
more than ten thousand but less than twenty thousand 
inhabitants, thirteen hundred dollars ; where the popu- 
lation is more than twenty thousand but less than 
thirty thousand, fifteen hundred ; and in counties 
having more than thirty thousand inhabitants, the 
board of supervisors may allow such compensation as 
they deem proper, not to exceed thirty-five hundred 
dollars. A full and complete account of all fees received 
must be reported to the board of supervisors at each 
regular session. The fees, in excess of the salary, 
must be paid into the county treasury. 
SHERIFF. 

The sheriff, by himself or his deputies, executes 
according to law, and returns all writs and other legal 
processes to him directed, and performs such other 
duties as may be required of him by law. He has the 
charge of the jail of his county, and the custody of 
all prisoners lawfully committed to it. The sheriff 
and his deputies are conservators of the peace, and, 
when necessary, they may call upon any person or per- 
sons to aid them in the discharge of their duties. 
They are forbidden to purchase, directly or indirectly, 
any property exposed by them for sale under any 
process of law. 

It is the duty of the sheriff of each county to 
give at least ten days' notice of each general election 
by a proclamation published in some newspaper printed 
in his county, or by posting notices of it in five or more 
of the most public places in the county. The same 
rule applies to all special elections ordered by the gov- 
ernor. 



126 COUNTY OFFICERS. 

The salary of the sheriff is fixed by law at not less 
than two hundred, nor more than four hundred dol- 
lars, but, in addition to this, he is allowed certain fees 
for serving executions, attachments, and other papers, 
five cents for each mile traveled in the discharge of 
his duties, and a percentage for collecting and paying 
over money. His bond cannot be less than five thou- 
sand dollars. 

COUNTY RECORDER 

This officer is provided with an office at the county 
seat, and it is his duty to record at length, and as 
speedily as possible, all deeds, mortgages, and other 
papers delivered to him for record, in the manner pre- 
scribed by law. He keeps separate index books for 
deeds, and mortgages of real estates, and personal 
property. He is required to note on each paper deliv- 
ered to him for record, the day and hour that it was 
received. The records of his office show the names of 
those who received the original deeds of land from the 
government for the county in which he serves. They 
also show all the changes in ownership from the origi- 
nal -entry down to the present time. Usually the 
recorder keeps a set of abstracts which show all 
changes that have been made in the ownership of each 
piece of real estate, and also the times at which such 
changes were made. Sometimes, however, the abstracts 
are kept only by persons who make the transfer of real 
estate a specialty. 

The compensation of the recorder consists of the 
following fees : 

For recording each instrument of four hundred 
words, fifty cents ; 



COUNTY OFFICERS. 12? 

For every one hundred additional words, or frac- 
tion thereof, ten cents. 

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT. 

To this officer is intrusted the oversight and gen- 
eral management of the county in which he is chosen. 
On the last Saturday of each month, and at such other 
times as may be necessary, he meets all applicants for 
examination as to their competency and ability to 
teach orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geogra- 
phy, grammar, physiology, and history of the United 
States. If the examination is satisfactory and the 
superintendent believes that the respective applicants 
possess a good moral character, and the essential quali- 
fications for governing and instructing children and 
youth, he issues to each a certificate to that effect, for 
a term not exceeding one year. Each applicant for a 
certificate is required to pay a fee of one dollar, which 
is deposited with the county treasurer and forms a part 
of the institute fund. 

He holds, annually, a normal institute for the 
benefit of teachers and those desiring to teach, and, 
with the consent of the superintendent of public 
instruction, he procures such assistance as may be nec- 
essary in conducting the work. Every person who 
enrolls as a member of the institute is required to pay 
a registration fee of one dollar. The examination and 
registration fees, with fifty dollars state aid, and such 
allowances as the board of supervisors may make con- 
stitute the institute fund, which is devoted exclusively 
to paying the expenses of the institute. Appeals from 
the decisions of school boards are heard by the super- 
intendent, if propjrly made within thirty days from 
the. time the decision was rendered. 



128 COUNTY OFFICERS. 

On the first Tuesday of October in each year, he 
is required to make a report to the superintendent of 
public instruction, which contains a full abstract of the 
reports made to him by the district secretaries, and 
such other matters as may be required by law. At the 
same time, he is required to file with the county audi- 
tor a statement of the number of persons between the 
ages of five and twenty-one years in each school dis- 
trict in his county. He reports to the superintendents 
of the different schools for the unfortunate, the name, 
age, residence, and postoffice address of each person 
of school age in his county for whom these special 
schools were instituted. 

The county superintendent receives four dollars 
for each day necessarily engaged in the discharge of 
his official duties, and the supervisors may allow such 
additional compensation as they deem proper. His 
bond is fixed by the board of supervisors, at one thou- 
sand dollars usually. 

COUNTY SURVEYOR. 

Before discussing the duties of this officer, it will 
be well to consider briefly the main features of the 
rectangular surveys authorized by the government of 
the United States, and applied to nearly all of the 
central and western states.. By comparing the county 
map of Iowa with that of Tennessee, or any of the 
eastern states, it will be seen that while the counties 
of the former state present a regular appearance, those 
of the latter are quite irregular, showing an entire 
want of system in their survey. 

It is important that the rectangular system of sur- 
veys be understood, inasmuch as all descriptions of 



COUNTY OFFICERS. 120, 

land given in deeds, leases, tax-receipts, etc., are based 
upon it. The first deeds to land in Iowa were given 
in the name" of the United States, and the chain of 
title to any piece of land in the state can be traced 
back to these deeds, and no farther. For convenience 
of ownership and transfer, this system of surveys pro- 
vides for the division of the land into small squares of 
uniform size. 

Before commencing the survey proper, it was nec- 
essary to establish two main lines, one extending north 
and south, the other, east and west. These lines were 
simply arbitrary, and new ones were adopted from time 
to time whenever the accuracy of the surveys required. 
The lines extending north and south are called princi- 
pal meridians, those extending east and west, baselines. 
The principal meridians are numbered westward, and 
a separate base line is established for each. 

The fifth principal meridian forms the basis of the 
survey in Iowa. It extends due north from the mouth 
of the Arkansas river, and crosses Missouri and the 
eastern part of Iowa, leaving the latter state at a point 
between Clayton and Dubuque counties. The base 
line extends due west from the mouth of the St. 
Francis river and crosses the meridian forty-eight 
miles north of its starting point. By running lines six 
miles apart parallel with the base line, and others the 
same distance apart* parallel with the principal merid- 
ian, the lands lying north and west of the point where 
the main lines intersect, is divided into blocks six miles 
square. Each one of these blocks is called a congres- 
sional township. Congressional townships were autho- 

* Note. — The lines running' north are not exactly parallel owing - to the curva- 
ture of- the earth's surface. See paragraph on correction line. 
9 



I3O COUNTY OFFICERS. 

rized by act of congress, but the name also aids in 
distinguishing them from civil townships established 
by the people of each county, and whose boundaries 
may, or may not, correspond with those of congres- 
sional townships. Civil townships are designated by 
names given them, usually, by the early settlers, but 
numbers are always used in referring to congressional 
townships. 

Two sets of numbers are used, one designates the 
townships north of the base line, the other, the town- 
ships west of the fifth principal meridian. For con- 
venience, the tiers of townships east or west of the 
meridian are called ranges. Land lying in the south- 
east corner square is in township one north, range one 
west. Every square west of the one mentioned is 
tozvnship one north, and every square north of it is 
range one west. The townships are numbered north- 
ward from the base line, and the ranges eastward or 
westward from the meridian. The civil township of 
Wayne in the northeastern part of Mitchell County, 
is township one hundred . north, range fifteen west. 
The pupil should become so familiar with this system 
of surveys that he can locate, by numbers, any land in 
the county in which he lives, at least. 

Owing to the convergence of meridians in passing 
northward, it has been found necessary to establish 
secondary lines parallel with the base line. These are 
called correction lines, and there are four of them in 
Iowa, the northern and southern boundaries of the 
state, and the northern boundaries of the seventy- 
eighth and eighty-eighth tiers of townships. Each 
congressional township is divided into thirty-six equal 
squares called sections. Each section contains six hun- 



COUNTY OFFICERS. I3I 

dred and forty acres, and is divided into halves, quar- 
ters, eighths, sixteenths, and even smaller parts. 

We will now proceed to consider the duties of the 
county surveyor. He makes all surveys of land within 
his county, which may be required of him, and his sur- 
veys are considered to be correct. He is required to 
establish the corners of the sections or other divisions, 
by the aid of trees, or by fixing stones firmly in the 
earth, or by mounds. 

When requested to do so, he must furnish the 
person for whom any survey is made, a copy of the 
field-notes and plat of the survey. The record and 
plat must: show distinctly of what piece of land it is a 
survey, at whose request it was made, the names of the 
chairmen, and the date of the survey. The chairmen 
are the persons who make the measurements by the 
aid of the surveyor's chain. They must be disinter- 
ested persons, approved by the surveyor, and sworn by 
him to make just and impartial measurements to the 
best of their ability. 

The county surveyor receives the following fees : 

For each day's service actually performed in trav- 
eling to and returning from the place where any sur- 
vey is to be made, and for making the survey and the 
required records, four dollars ; 

For certified copy of the plat and field-notes, fifty 
cents. 

CORONER. 

It is the duty of this officer to perform all the 
duties of the sheriff when there is no sheriff, or when 
that officer is an interested party to any proceedings 
in any court of record. 

He also acts as sheriff when an affidavit is filed 



.I3 3 COUNTY OFFICERS. 

with the clerk of the court that the sheriff and his 
deputies are absent from the county and are not 
expected to return in time to perform the service 
required. 

It is also his duty to hold an inquest upon the 
dead bodies of those persons who are supposed to have 
died by unlawful means. Upon receiving notice that 
such a body has been found in his county, he issues a 
a warrant to any constable of the county, directing 
him to summon immediately three electors to serve as 
a jury in determining when, how, and by what means 
the deceased came to his death. The coroner may 
summon witnesses and both jurors and witnesses are 
sworn to the faithful performance of the duties devolv- 
ing upon them. 

The testimony given at the inquest is reduced to 
writing and signed by the witnesses. The jurors having 
reviewed the body, heard the testimony, and made all 
needful inquiries, return to the coroner in writing the 
result of their investigations. 

If it be found at the inquest that a crime has been 
committed on the deceased, and the evidence be suffi- 
cient to authorize the jury in naming the guilty person, 
the coroner proceeds to secure the arrest of the party 
named, if possible, before the proceedings are made 
public. The body of the deceased is delivered to his 
friends by the coroner, but where there are no friends 
and no property, the expenses of the inquest and burial 
are paid out of the county treasury. 

The fees of the coroner are as follows : 

For holding an inquest and making the return, 
five dollars; 



COUNTY OFFICERS. I33 

For viewing a body without holding an inquest^ 
three dollars ; 

For issuing each subpoena, warrant, or order for a 
jury, twenty-five cents ; and 

For each mile traveled in going to and returning 
from holding an inquest, ten cents. 

For acting as sheriff he receives the usual fees of 
that officer. 

He is obliged to give bonds to the amount required 
by the board of supervisors. 

NOTARIES PUBLIC. 

Notaries public are not properly county officers, 
but they are appointed by the governor to transact 
certain kinds of business in the counties in which they 
reside. The commissions of all of these officers expire 
on the fourth day of July of every third year com- 
mencing with the year 1876. Each notary has a seal, 
upon which is engraved the words " Notorial Seal," 
and " Iowa," with the initials of his given name and 
his surname in full. He files a bond in the sum of five 
hundred dollars with the clerk of the court to insure 
the true and faithful discharge of the duties of his 
office. There are other minor duties to be performed 
by each applicant for a commission as notary public 
before he receives his commission. The governor may 
revoke the commission of any notary at any time. 
This officer may administer oaths, take the acknowl- 
edgments of signatures to deeds and other papers, 
and perform certain duties relating to the custom and 
law of merchants and bankers. He must stamp all 



*34 



COUNTY OFFICERS. 



papers of which he takes acknowledgments, with his 
official seal. His compensation consists of fees varying 
from five cents to one dollar, according to the amount 
and character of the work done. 




TOWN AND CITY GOVERNMENT. 



The term town government is taken in its broadest 
sense and is intended to include cities of all classes, as 
well as incorporated towns. This is often called muni- 
cipal government. Cities of the first-class contain at 
least fifteen thousand inhabitants, those of the second 
class from two thousand to fifteen thousand, and incor- 
porated towns, any number less than two thousand 
inhabitants. Each city or town contains as much ter- 
ritory as the inhabitants think necessary, and additions 
are frequently made to the original plats. This terri- 
tory is separated into blocks which are divided into 
lots for convenience of building and ownership. Cities 
are divided into wards. 

OFFICERS IN CITIES OF THE FIRST CLASS. 

Each city of the first-class has one mayor, two 
councilmen from each ward, one marshal, one treas- 
urer, one auditor, one attorney, one civil engineer, one 
police judge, and one commissioner of the market. 
Each of these officers serves two years. The mayor 
and the councilmen from all the wards constitute the 
city council. 

THE MAYOR. 

The mayor is a member of the city council, ex-officio y 
and the chief officer of the city. He presides at all 
meetings of the council, holds court for the trial of 
-135- 



I36 TOWN AND CITY GOVERNMENT. 

offenders against the city law, and sees that all orders 
of the council are properly enforced. 

CITY COUNCIL. 
The council has power to enact laws for the gov- 
ernment of the city, levy taxes, keep the streets and 
sidewalks in proper condition, and appoint inferior 
officers. Laws passed by the council of a city or town 
are called ordinances. 

THE MARSHAL. 

The duties of the marshal correspond to those of 
constable. He attends the courts of the mayor and 
police judge, and is, in fact, the chief ministerial officer 
of the city. 

THE TREASURER. 
The treasurer receives all money belonging to the 
city and pays it out when ordered to do so by the 
council. He gives bonds in such a sum as the council 
directs. 

THE AUDITOR. 

The auditor has charge of the financial affairs of 
the city and issues warrants upon the treasury when 
ordered to do so by the city council. His duties are 
numerous and important. 

CITY SOLICITOR. 

The city solicitor, or attorney, is a lawyer elected 
to represent the city in any legal business. His rela- 
tions to the officers of the city are the same as those 
of the attorney general to officers of the state, or of 
the district attorney to officers of the county. 
CIVIL ENGINEER. 

The civil engineer performs such duties belonging 
to his profession as may be required by the city council. 



TOWN AND CITY GOVERNMENT. I37 

POLICE JUDGE. 

The police judge has jurisdiction of all offenses 
against any ordinance of the city in which he serves. 
In criminal matters, his powers are co-ordinate with 
those of justice of the peace, and he is entitled to the 
same fees as that officer. He may also take acknowl- 
edgments of signatures to deeds, mortgages, and other 
papers. His court, which is open at all times for the 
transaction of business, is a court of record. The clerk 
of this court is chosen by the qualified electors of the 
city or appointed by the police judge, as the council 
may direct. In case of vacancy in the office of police 
judge, the duties of that officer devolve upon the 
mayor. For the prosecution of any person for violat- 
ing an ordinance of the city, the police judge, or mayor, 
is entitled to such compensation as the city council 
may allow. 

MARKET SUPERINTENDENT. ■ 

The superintendent of the market acts as overseer 
of all places provided by the city for the sale of fresh 
meats, vegetables, and other articles of a perishable 
nature usually offered for sale in a public market. 

To the city council belongs the power to appoint 
members of the police force and night watch. It may 
also provide for a fire department and make regulations 
for governing the same. The council also acts as the 
board of health. 

The compensation of these officers is fixed by 
ordinance of the city council, in most instances. The 
exceptions to this have been referred to. Each mem- 
ber of the council is prohibited, by statute, from receiv- 
ing more than one dollar for attending each meeting of 
the council, or more than fifty dollars in any one year. 



I38 TOWN AND CITY GOVERNMENT. 

OFFICERS IN CITIES OF THE SECOND CLASS. 

In cities of the second class, there are chosen 
annually, a mayor, a city council consisting of two 
trustees from each ward, and a treasurer. A city 
solicitor is chosen every second year for two . years. 
Marshal, night watch, and other officers are appointed 
by the council. These officers have the same powers 
and perform the same duties as the corresponding 
officers in cities of the first class. 

OFFICERS IN INCORPORATE TOWNS. 

The corporate authority of an incorporated town 
is vested in a mayor, a recorder, and five councilmen, 
all of whom are chosen by the qualified electors resid- 
ing within the limits of the corporation. These seven 
officers constitute the town council, and any five of 
them are a quorum for the transaction of business. 
The council may, by ordinance, provide for the election 
of a treasurer and such other officers as may be neces- 
sary to administer the government. A marshal is 
appointed by the council. The duties of these officers 
are much the same as those of corresponding officers 
in cities of the first and second classes. 

"SPECIAL CHARTER" CITIES. 

Many of the older cities of the state were organi- 
zed before the present law for the incorporation of 
cities and towns was enacted. The government of 
these cities differs somewhat from those authorized by 
the present law. They are said to be governed by 
" special charter." 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 



To the people of Iowa, the civil township is a very 
important division. It is here that government " by 
the people " is to be found. Comparatively few state 
and county officers are required, but there is hardly a 
county in the state that does not have at least four 
hundred officers whose duties are confined to the civil 
township. The greater part of all the taxes raised 
each year is expended in the township under the direc- 
tion of its officers. It will be necessary to consider 
two kinds of government in this connection, viz. : 
school government, and township government proper. 
SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

The public schools are free to all residents of the 
state between the ages of five and twenty-one years. 
Each civil township constitutes a school district which 
may be divided into such sub-districts as the board of 
directors think necessary. At a meeting held on the 
third Monday of March in each year, the qualified 
electors of each sub-district, elect one sub-director to 
serve as a member of the township board of directors 
for the ensuing year. On the second Monday of March, 
the qualified electors of the township meet for the 
transaction of certain kinds of business connected with 
building and repairing school-houses and disposing of 
school property. On the third Monday of March, the 
— 1 39— 



I4O TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 

newly-elected sub-directors meet and organize by choos- 
ing one of their number president. They then proceed 
to the transaction of such business as may come before 
them. They allow all just claims against the district, 
hire teachers or delegate this power to the director in 
each sub-district subject to approval by the board, 
estimate the amount of money to be raised for the sup- 
port of schools in their district, and provide for build- 
ing and repairing school-houses. 

The president presides at all meetings of the 
board and of the district township, draws all drafts on 
the county treasury for money belonging to his dis- 
trict, and signs all orders on the treasury and all con- 
tracts made by the board. At the regular meeting of 
the board held on the third Monday of September in 
each year, a secretary and treasurer are chosen for one 
year. The duties of these officers are such as their 
titles indicate. 

Cities, incorporated towns, and villages having not 
less than two hundred inhabitants, may be organized 
as independent school districts. In districts having less 
than five hundred inhabitants, the boards of directors 
consist of three members, one of whom is chosen on 
the second Monday of March in each year, for the term 
of three years. In districts having five hundred, or 
or more, inhabitants, there are six directors, two being 
chosen each year. The secretary may, or may not, be 
a member of the board, but no director of an inde- 
pendent district can fill the office of treasurer. In 
accordance with the provisions of a former law, inde- 
pendent districts were formed in district townships. 
In some instances, each sub-district becomes indepen- 
dent, while in others some other mode of dividing the 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. I4I 

township was adopted. This law was repealed by the 
Sixteenth General Assembly, and no districts of this 
kind have been formed since July 4, 1876. So far as 
practicable, the law governing district townships 
applies to independent districts. 

Reference has already been made to the perma- 
nent school fund, and the way in which the interest is 
applied. The amount of this interest, however, is but 
a small part of what is needed for the support of schools. 
There are three different school funds, the teachers fund 
for the payment of teachers, the school-house fund for 
building and repairing school-houses and the purchase 
of school grounds, and the contingent fund for the pur- 
chase of fuel and the payment of other running ex- 
penses. 

The teachers' fund is derived from the semi-annual 
apportionment which includes the interest on the per- 
manent school fund, fines and forfeitures of various 
kinds, and a county school tax of not' less than one 
mill nor more than three mills, which is levied by the 
board of supervisors on the taxable property of the 
county. In addition to this, the directors of each dis- 
trict, before the third Monday of May in each year, 
vote to raise a tax upon the property in their district, 
not to exceed fifteen dollars for each person of school 
age, except as provided for in the next paragraph. 

The amount of the contingent fund is estimated 
by the directors of each district and cannot exceed five 
dollars per pupil, except in thinly settled townships 
where that amount and fifteen dollars per pupil for 
teachers' fund is not sufficient to maintain the schools 
for the time allowed by law. Seventy-five dollars con- 
tingent fund and two hundred and seventy dollars 



I42 TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 

teachers' fund, including the apportionment, may be 
raised for school purposes in each sub-district. 

The school-house fund is derived from a tax upon 
the property of any district in which a school-house is 
to be built or repaired. This tax is voted by the elec- 
tors of the sub-district, or district township, and cannot 
exceed ten mills on the dollar when levied upon the 
whole township. At the sub-district meeting held on 
the first Monday of March, the electors may vote to 
raise a certain sum of money for school-house purposes. 
If the electors at the district township meeting, refuse 
to grant any or all of this amount, the tax is levied 
upon the property of the sub-district, provided it does 
not exceed fifteen mills on a dollar of valuation. As a 
rule, the tax for school-house purposes is levied upon 
the whole district and expended in the different sub- 
districts, as occasion may require. 

The district secretaries certify all taxes for school 
purposes to the county supervisors, who levy them at 
the time of levying the taxes for county purposes. 

TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. 

The officers of the township are three trustees, one 
clerk, one assessor, two constables, and two justices of 
the peace, but where a township contains a city or an 
incorporated town, the township trustees may order 
the election of one or two additional justices and con- 
stables, and at least one justice and one constable must 
reside in the city or incorporated town. Each town- 
ship is divided into road districts and the electors ot 
each district choose one road supervisor, who has 
charge of the highways of his districts. 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 1 43 

TRUSTEES. 

The trustees decide upon the place of holding elec- 
tions, equalize taxes, and have charge of all cemeteries, 
not controlled by other trustees or by religious socie- 
ties. They constitute the board of health, act as fence 
viewers, overseers of the poor, and judges of elec- 
tion. One trustee is elected every year for a term of 
three years. All other township officers are elected in 
the even-numbered years and serve two years. 

The trustees meet on the first Monday of April 
and the first Monday of October in each year. At the 
April meeting, they estimate the amount of property 
tax to be raised in their township for repairing high- 
ways and purchasing plows, scrapers, tools, etc., to be 
used in working the roads. This tax cannot be less 
than one, nor more than five mills on the dollar of 
assessment for that year. They also determine what 
portion of the tax, if any, shall be paid in labor, and 
the wages that will be allowed for a day's work done 
by a man, or by a man and team. At the October 
meeting, they divide their township into road districts 
and settle with the township clerk and road super- 
visors. 

CLERK. 

The township clerk is secretary of the board of 
trustees and keeps accurate records of the proceedings 
of all meetings of the board of trustees, and performs 
such other acts as may be required of him by law. He 
acts as clerk of election, has charge of property belong- 
ing to the township, and receives the resignations of 
township officers. Immediately after an election he 
sends the county auditor a list of the names of persons 
receiving any votes for any office, the number of votes 



^44 TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 

each person received, and the time of holding the elec- 
tion. He is empowered to administer the oath of 
office to township officers. As clerk of election, it is 
the duty of the township clerk to preserve all the 
ballots cast at any election together with the tally list, 
until the time for contesting the election of any officer 
voted for has passed. 

ROAD SUPERVISORS. 

Each road supervisor must reside in the district 
for which he is chosen, but no person who is exempted 
from performing labor on the highway can be required 
to serve in this capacity. Within four weeks after the 
township trustees have levied the property tax, the 
township clerk furnishes each supervisor with a tax- 
list for his district, which shows the amount of tax on 
each piece of land and each town lot, as well as on all 
personal property belonging to each person in the dis- 
trict. This list also contains the names of all persons 
required to perform two days labor upon the road as 
poll tax.* 

Within ten days after receiving the tax-list, the 
supervisor is required to post up in three conspicuous 
places in his district, the amount of tax assessed to 
each tax-payer. All able-bodied residents of each 
highway district, between the ages of twenty-one and 
forty-five years, are required to labor upon the high- 
way two days of nine hours each. 

On the first Monday of April and October of each 
year, the supervisors report to the township clerk the 

♦Note. — At the regular meeting of the board of supervisors in September 
in each year, a poll tax of fifty cents is levied upon all male citizens of the county 
over twenty-one years of age. This tax forms a part of the revenue for county 
purposes, and is levied -without any regard to the property of the individuals 
taxed. 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. I45 

amount of labor performed on the highways in their 
respective districts, the amount of all moneys received, 
taxes unpaid, the condition of the highways, and such 
other information as may be considered necessary. 

When notified in writing that any bridge, or por- 
tion of the highway, is in an unsafe condition, the 
supervisor becomes personally liable for any damages 
resulting therefrom, provided he has had a reasonable 
time to make the needed repairs. When notified that 
a county bridge is unsafe, it is his duty to obstruct it, 
and to inform a member of the board of county super- 
visors of the condition of the bridge at once. 

For each day spent in the discharge of his duties, 
each road supervisor receives from the highway fund 
the amount fixed by the township trustees for a day's 
labor. When there is no money with which to pay the 
supervisor, he is entitled to a certificate for the amount 
of labor performed, which will be received in payment 
of his own highway tax for any succeeding year. 

ASSESSOR. 

The township assessor is required to list every per- 
son in his township, and to assess all property, both 
personal and real, except such as is exempted by law. 
To secure uniformity of assessment, the county super- 
visors, at their January session, fix the value of the 
different kinds of property by classes. This serves as 
a guide to the assessor in the discharge of his duties. 
On or before January 15, of each year, the assessor 
receives two books from the county auditor, in each of 
which he enters, in the proper columns, all the items 
required concerning the property assessed by him. 
One of these books is delivered to the township clerk, 
10 



I46 TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 

on or before the first Monday of April, to be used by 
the trustees in equalizing assessments, and levying 
taxes for township and highway purposes. The other 
book, after having been corrected by the township 
trustees, is returned to the county auditor on or before 
the third Monday of May. 

Section 113, Code of Iowa, is as follows: 

The township assessor of each township shall, at 
the time of assessing property in the year 1875, and 
every ten years thereafter, take an enumeration of the 
inhabitants of his township. 

On or before the first day of June in the year in 
which the census is taken, the assessor reports to the 
county auditor the result of the enumeration. An 
abstract of the reports made by all the assessors of the 
county is forwarded to the secretary of state by the 
county auditor, on or before the first day of Septem- 
ber of that year. The census returns show not only 
the number of inhabitants, male and female, but a col- 
lection of statistics pertaining to the militia, the for- 
eign population, the condition of all the industries of 
the state, and various other items of interest. 

At the time of making the annual assessment, 
each assessor is required to make and return to the 
county auditor a list of the names of all persons sub- 
ject to military duty. 

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. 

The jurisdiction of justices of the peace, when not 
specially restricted by law, is co-extensive with the 
county in which they reside. Each justice keeps a 
docket in which he records all official acts done by 
him, Actions in justice courts are commenced by vol- 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 1^7 

runtary appearance, or by notice. When a suit requir- 
ing notice is commenced, the notice must contain the 
name of the defendant (or a description of him, if his 
name is unknown), the nature of the claim, the amount 
claimed by the plaintiff, and the time set for trial. 
This notice must be signed by the plaintiff or the jus- 
tice before whom the action is commenced. It is then 
delivered to the sheriff or any constable of the county 
to be served upon the defendant. The trial must be 
held within fifteen days from the date of the notice, 
and ithe notice served within ten days from the same 
date. The defendant may at any time put a stop to 
the proceedings, by paying the amount of the claim 
witik the costs that have accrued. 

Before the trial commences, either party may have 
tlse place of trial changed by filing an affidavit : 

1. That the justice is prejudiced against him; 

2. That the justice is a near relative of the other 
party ; 

3. That the party filing the affidavit considers the 
justice a material witness for him ; 

4. That he believes that he will not receive justice 
.at the hands of the officer before whom the action was 
.taken. 

This is called a change of venue. 

After a case has come to trial, an adjournment, 
not to exceed sixty days, may be had to enable either 
party to secure additional witnesses. 

At the request of either of the parties to any suit, 
the justice directs the constable to summon a jury, to 
consist of six members, unless a smaller number has 
been agreed upon by the parties. 

In criminal matters, the jurisdiction of justices of 



H^ township government. 

the peace extends to all cases less than felony, com- 
mitted in their respective counties, in which the pun- 
ishment prescribed by law does not exceed a fine of 
one hundred dollars, or imprisonment thirty days. 
The mode of procedure is much the same in both civil 
and criminal cases. In any criminal action, the de- 
fendant may, before any testimony has been taken, 
demand a trial by jury. If the person be acquitted, he 
is set at liberty at once. Should he be convicted, the 
justice renders the judgment of fine, or imprisonment, 
or both, as the case may require. Criminals sometimes 
plead guilty to the crimes of which they are accused 
in the hope of receiving a light sentence. Besides 
performing the duties above referred to, a justice of 
the peace may take acknowledgements of signatures 
to deeds, mortgages, and other papers, solemnize mar- 
riages, and bind over disorderly persons to keep the 
peace. 

CONSTABLES. 

The constable is the proper executive officer of 
the justice's court, but any of the duties required of 
him may be performed by the sheriff of the county. 
The powers and duties of the sheriff in relation to the 
circuit court correspond, so far as applicable, to those 
of the constable in a justice's court. It is the duty of 
the constable to serve all warrants, notices, and other 
processes lawfully directed to him by the trustees or 
clerk of any township, or by any court, and to per- 
form such other acts as may be required of him by law. 
He is forbidden to act" as attorney for any party, or to 
purchase any property offered at sale by him upon 
execution or other process. Constables, although 
elected by the voters of their respective townships, 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. I49 

may be called upon to discharge their duties in any 
part of the county ; hence they may be considered 
county officers in a special sense. 

TOWNSHIP COLLECTORS. 

The board of supervisors of any county in the 
state, having a population of more than seven thou- 
sand inhabitants, may, at their regular meeting in June, 
by a two-thirds vote of the board, order the election 
of a township collector of taxes in each township of 
the county. The first election of township collectors 
takes place at the next regular election after the action 
of the board of supervisors, and they are chosen in the 
same manner as other township officers. 

Before entering upon the discharge of his duties, 
each township collector is required to give a bond to 
the county in twice the amount of the tax to be col- 
lected by him. Duplicate tax-lists for each township, 
in which there is a collector, are made out by the county 
auditor and delivered to the county treasurer. The 
treasurer delivers these lists to the collectors as soon 
as they have qualified, taking their receipts therefor. 
Upon receiving the tax-lists, each collector posts a 
notice in some conspicuous place in each school district 
in his township, stating that he has received the lists. 
The notice must also state a place in the township 
where the collector will be at least one day each week 
for the purpose of receiving the payment of taxes. 

Each collector is required to make a monthly state- 
ment to the county treasurer of the amount of taxes 
received by him. This report must be accompanied by 
the money received. Township collectors are not 
chosen in very many counties, as this method of col- 



*5° 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 



lecting taxes is much more expensive to the people, 
and the additional number of officers renders the lia- 
bility to mistakes much greater. 

Each collector is entitled to receive for his services : 

1. Two per cent, of all sums collected by him on 
the first two thousand dollars, and one per cent, on all 
sums in excess of that amount when collected without 
suit. 

2. Five per cent, upon all taxes collected by him 
by distress and sale of property, which percentage and 
costs shall be collected of the delinquent tax-payer, 
and the same fees, in addition to the five per cent., that 
constables receive for the sale of property on execu- 
tion. 

The compensation of justices and constables is by 
fees. Jurors in justices' courts are allowed one dollar 
for each day's service, but no mileage. Witnesses; 
receive fifty cents for each day's attendance upon this; 
court, and five cents for each mile actually traveled int 
• going to and returning from the trial. Trustees, clerks,, 
and assessors are allowed two dollars for each day's; 
work of eight hours. 



COUNTIES OF IOWA. 



T3 lC»CJ»lCffl«05iMt-O5 

UZ> lO Tf -r}< 1C ■<* iO "^f »C ■* UZ> 
00 GO 00 CO 00 GO GO 3D 00 CO CO 00 00 00 00 GO 00 CO GO 00 00 00 00 



^ u 1 

< l o 



COlO»OCOt~t-t-CO H 00 t- O IO 

' "~ i£ !2 J2 i2 i£ i2 J5 i2 5! 3? ^ 



t- 00 tH CD 00 CO CO 00 !-• CO t- CO 1C t-i CO CO -— i O "<# CO CO Ci CO CO 

CCCOC5COt^GOt-iCOGO"*CO OCiLC^COCO-^CO -i-h^CQCOt-i 

^CO^i^Or^oq^CftOOO liOJO «O i M05C5 i '*NlO lOCQCOt^"* 

rHi-HOs"«0~t^-^r CO O^QOt- *f t& G* CO CD r* CO •<& i-4-r£cD<0 d 

rlrtrtH NWNiHrt -r-t rlnrlrH. T-i T-t <M CO r-t 



o 
o 

CO 

W 

t-H 

H 

ID 

O 

o 









>> • a, 

P S o o ° 



« u, J C 

vj CJ -TJ O EC 

« £ « ^ •" 






. T3 O y O 

H <U S 3 5 



o £ 

~ u 

; <u +- 1 ; 

C « * to 



5 6 

£ y 






x y ; 



'55 



-S" 
£< 



S g «JE 
1^ g<J3 o 



i-i c s-< « 



y . 

.£ p 

Is 



2 p £ 



O U l) 



rt 


03 


o 


'— 


" 




>- 


CO 


oj 


^ 


tr- 










b/ 


Q 


B 


CO 


£ 


E 

p 


o 


cd 




c 










o 


5 


c 


•~ 


p 





u 








/) 


>>y^ 


~ 








o 


"3 


U 


c 

o 


r7 


.?. 


^ 


;- 


o 


^ 


c 


rt 


c 





CH^j^ y - 



cS rt « 

T3 -a 3H 



oo 

el 3 © 

ass 






s If 



MpqpqWMfq UUUUUUUU UUOU 



i5* 



COUNTIES OF IOWA. 



O 



0000x0000000000000600000600000000000000000000000000 



t *„'* w . O O C5 a O (N 0_N O f » W_?< ^ X SO OJ 00 W 93 C^C-^CS 

od «o o t-"co"rH <n~ t-I ci^fo't^c-i coT-^rH co e^ o cf O iO ■<* of CO 1C 

HHHHCO -^ NrtHHr-rtHrt rl i-l <M r-l T-I <N <M 



p 

.s 

c 

o 

a 



< 

o 

o 

CO 

w 

H 

o 
u 



i u O*' 



3 a 3 ca .~ j 



~ ' x] c3 3 



-2 £ >» 



i C c3 

^ 3 .J£ c: 
> A 5 * 

g £ 5 I ■ 

3*3 « *• 



.00 

Is* 



n .£ of ^ cs 

.S n 3 « <U 

Qu r J- 3 +j o 



■a c - 
^3: 3 



3 h 3 
>, O u . 

!2i* 

I) r<« £ 
• 3 O ?■> 

U <+- ~ O 

3 O 3S 



fc'a 



Pi 

irk*!* 



<U (U 

MS 

Is- 

3 - 

U' 

E OS 



s-g 

cox; 

■ o li o x 

rM§S 

°^3^ 

S>< S IP 
-SP-S % 















s>.e-S 



§* 






- 1 g ^^^^ S t>>3 £ I S£ 3 g-g C ^ ^ g . 



COUNTIES OF IOWA. 



153 



t-^t^ ©0>05050C5^1005H^-*10COOOH 

00 CO CO OC GO 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 GO 00 00 00 00 00 00 



coco 00 00 00 00 



CS OS CJ 00 CO OJt-'NWQO^W'-'eilt-MOQOOOOO t»H«DCQiOO 

t* t* o«t-j_ ffi^Hioojwo^^i^HMo^^oqHHN ?o t-h 10 c- co 00 

t^ - o t-T-h^" Tj5"t-co ^"h t-^10 jo co t^-^'cs cc 10 co rh of o^ti" ao'co'cfaf 

T-t <N ©*<M COMHH t-< O* <N C3 rH t-H rlrtN tH ^ CO 



•a * 



U O £ ctf 



! On -J CS <L) 2 -O 

O OJ 



2 > -C £ <D 5 ' 

•■« ^ » c sjidS.S 



"G C *- 



i'l 

!?3 

its 



c ~5 



£33 






^ g c 

t3.S« 
G G ^ 



, V ' 



■ bC 






ri 



3C/3-C 



H O o^ .OpMrtbJD' 
Oh»— 1>^!~). G 3 3 'G 

£ ,g tg £ ^ ^ . 1-,-g «g 3 ^ o 

S *6 > .g 3 i *s « b£> s y 2 



11° 



G faJO . 

<u c > 
73 3 O 









1 ,7 U -o « y 5 'h - 1 



•- bo E « 



•G :G G 



_rxl _r d aT 6 ^ a "^ Oh 
G !n _e _c G ^ — j* « c U 

g£ £ SJ2 °< 



'u 



■ « ^ 3 

g-s s "8 

^ u w 3 

<jj o « o 



^.5 



Dg 



£ £ - £ « ^Cu 
~ oj »- ^ .G rt tJ - 1 
^O < £ H CJ 






oj c ^G oj 



^■G 



G 

™ <u O Z3 1 



§08 .£ § § £,« « 5 5S.^ & § & 3W 3 & 



3 -G 5 



J3 -^ O O O 

LhPhPhPhPh 



'54 



COUNTIES OF IOWA. 



H3 

<D 

P 

.s 

C 

o 
Q 



<3 




£ 




O 


h 


HH 





fa 


o 


o 


fe 






CO 


W 


W 


14 


t-H 

H 


Q 


£ 


§ 
*! 


& 


£ 


O 




u 








OOlClflt-COOCO«H 
■* lO 1(5 CO lO O lO lO lO 
00 00 00 00 00 GO 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 



MOO^QOlr-ICOlCr-ICOt' 

' " 00 



3 b ^ ° ■ 

N >~> Z? O-c _ <U C3 " - ! 



£3 

• n o 

S c e •= .2 Q -w * ^ 



•o2 

c P 



173 

: £ « £ 



: 2 : £ 

M £ -^ £ -o 

* y ^ O 

|gg-CO 

c c <u <y o 

<L) <D JZ g c3 






fc 



jrt 



*!« £ 

j_ y <U 

">.££ 
bop 

8 ° -, 



oo « - 















: ~ P c <u -t3 c 



o c 
h ° 3£ -<=> 



j^ w O <U -h »> 



R^.l 3 p > 



_, C- u a; >^o c c o u •« 
£rtrtc3rt<D.S.SOO^ 



OFFICERS OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 



GOVERNORS. 


* LIEUT. GOVERNORS. 


* Robert Lucas 1838-1841 

: *John Chambers 1841-1845 

♦James Clarke .1845-1846 

Ansel Briggs 1846-1850 

Stephen Hempsted... 1850-1854 

James W. Grimes 1854-1858 

Ralph P. Lowe. 1858-1860 

Samuel J. Kirkwood.. 1860-1864 

Wm. M.Stone 1864-1868 

Samuel Merrill 1868-1872 

Cyrus C. Carpenter... 1872-1876 
f Samuel J. Kirkwood. 1876 1877 
j Joshua G. Newbold.. 1877-1878 

John H. Gear 1878-1882 

Buren R. Sherman... 1882- 

♦Territorial Governor. 
+ Resigned Feb. 1, 1877. 
% Acting Governor from Feb. 1, 1877, 
to Jan. 17, 1878. 


Oran Faville 1858-1860 

Nicholas J. Rusch 1860-1862 

John R. Needham 1862-1864 

Enoch W. Eastman... 1864-1866 

Benj. F. Gue 1866-1868 

John Scott 1868-1870 

f Madison M. Walden. 1870-1871 

X Henry C Bulls 1871-1874 

Joseph Dysart. 1874-1876 

Joshua G. Newbold... 1876--1 877 
Frank T. Campbell... 1878-1883 
Orlando H. Manning. 1883- 

* Office created 1857. 

t Elected to Congress. 

X Appointed by the Gov. for remain- 
der of predecessor's term, and then 
elected for one term. 


AUDITORS OF STATE. 


TREASURERS OF STATE. 


Joseph T. Fales 1846-1850 

William Pattee .1850-1854 

f Andrew J. Stephens. 1854-1855 

fjohn Pattee ...1855-1859 

Jonathan W. Cattell... 1859-1865 

John A. Elliott 1865-1871 

John Russell 1871-1875 

Buren R. Sherman 1875-1881 

Wm. V. Lucas 1881-1883 

John L.Brown 1883- 

+ Resigned. 


Morgan Reno .1846-1850 

Israel Kister 1850-1853 

Martin L.Morris 1852-1859 

John W. Jones 1859-1863 

Wm. H. Holmes 1863-1867 

Samuel E. Rank in.... 1867-1873 

Wm. Christy 1873-1876 

Geo. W. Bemis 1877-1881 

Edwin H. Conger 1881- 



— 155— 



«5<5 



OFFICERS OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 



SECRETARIES OF STATE. 


SUPT. OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 


Elisha Cutler, Jr., 1846-1848 

Josiah H. Bonney 1848-1850 

George W. McCleary. 1850-1 856 

Elijah Sells 1856-1863 

James Wright 1863-1867 

'Ed. Wright..... 1867-1873 

Josiah T. Young 1873-1879 

John A. T. Hull 1879-.... 

f JUDGES OF SUPREME COURT. 

Jas. H. Rothrock, C. J.. 1876-1884 

Joseph M. Beck 1868-1885 

Austin Adams 1876-1887 

Wm. H. Luvese .1877-1888 

Joseph R. Reed 1883-1889 

tjudges at present time only. 


James Harlan 1847-1848 

Thomas H. Benton, jr., 1848-1 854 

* James D. Eads 1854-1857 

f Joseph P. Stone 1857-1857 

Maurice L. Fisher.... 1857- 1858 

ff Oran Faville 1864-1867 

% D. Franklin Wells.. 1867-1868 

# Abraham S. Kissell. 1868-1872 
ftAlonzo Abernethy. 1872-1876 
Carl W. von Coeller.. 1876-1882 
John W. Akers 1882- 

♦Suspended by Governor. 

+ Resigned. 

ft Appointed by Governor. 

X Duties of this office performed bv 
Sec. of Board of Education from 1858 
to 1864. 

XX Died in office. 


ATTORNEYS GENERAL. 


REGISTERS STATE LAND OFFICE 


David C. Cloud 1853-1856 

Samuel A. Rice. .....1856-1861 

Chas. C. Nourse. 1861-1865 

*Isaac L.Allen 1865-1866 

f Frederick E. Bissell. 1866-1867 
X Henry Oconnor_.___ 1867-1872 
JJMarena E. Cutis... 1872-1877 

John F. Mcjunkin 1877-1881 

Smith McPherson 1881- 

♦Resigned Jan. 11, 1866. 

t Appointed by Governor Jan. 12, 1866, 
and elected the following fall. Died 
June 2, 1867. 

% Resigned 1872. 

X% Appointed by Gov. Feb. 23, 1872. 


Anson Hart 1855-1856 

Theodore S. Parvin... 1856-1859 

Amos B.Miller 1859-1862 

Edwin Mitchell 1862-1863 

Josiah A. Harvey 1863-1867 

Cyrus C. Carpenter... 1867-1871 

Aaron Brown 1871-1875 

David Secor 1875-1879 

James K. Powers.... 1879-1882 

Office abolished Jan. 1, 1883, and 
duties devolved on the Secretary of 
State. 



HOW TO TEACH ARITHMETIC 



IS POINTED OUT STEP BY SI 



Methods in Written Arithmetic, 



Prof. JOHN W. COOK, 

Professor of Mathematics in the Illinois Normal University. 



jCS HIS book is without a rival, and is the best presentation ever made of 
^-^ the entire subject. Every principle in Arithmetic and the best and 
latest methods are clearly explained and illustrated by examples, and all 
difficult points are fully solved and illustrated. 

Prof. Cook is known throughout the country as a mathematical instruc- 
tor without a superior, and in the discussions of this work he has embodied 
his best thoughts on the subject of teaching numbers, the fruits of a long 
experience, and the best methods that deep research and careful study have 
mastered. The matter contained in the book is the same in substance as 
that which Prof. Cook offers to his arithmetic classes in the Illinois Norma> 
University. The definitions, methods of solution, form of analyses, etc., are 
precisely those in which his instruction of those classes he has found to be 
the most effective in leading pupils to an accurate and thorough knowledge 
of the subject. For clearness and simplicity, the book is absolutely un- 
equaled, at least by anything that we have ever met with. We commend 
it to teachers as an invaluable help. 



Am highly pleased with its clearness and 
simplicity.— Prin. J. Pike. 

I have not only been a careful reader, but a 
close student of Prof. Cook's work. It has 
been to me a fountain of new ideas. — C. J. 
Allen. 

His years of class-room work make him an 
excellent judge of what is best to present, and 
the best manner of presenting it. — Sup't 
Burgess. 

vciy viiiuctuic. 11 ia clear, 

ithout nonsensical "hair- 

' -E. A. 



I regard it as very valuable. It 
practical, and without nonsensical 
splitting" in definitions or analysis, 
Gastman 



Clear, sharp and vigorous, it cannot fail to 



be a valuable auxiliary in the teaching of this 
important subject. Worth many times the 

COSt.— S. Y. GlLLAN. 

I do not know of any place where there can 
be found in so little space so much that is val- 
uable, and so concisely said, as in this work. 
It seems to me that in every case he gives 
" the conclusion of the whole matter." — Jos- 
eph Carter. 

I am glad Prof. Cook has published this 
volume, and I think it invaluable to correct 
work in arithmetic. For years past I have 
had to prepare notes for every new teacher 
appointed to my school. Prof. Cook's book 
relieves me of this labor, and in a most satis- 
factory manner.— W. H. Richardson. 



REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION, BOUND IN 
CLOTM, 175 PAGES. PRICE, POSTPAID, 75 CENTS. 

163 Randolph Street, Qhloa«"> 



k HB * ©HOUSAND * &5AYS * OF%... . 

,_^ONE*©HOU3AND*<5EAGHE^S. 

THE LEADING EDUCATIONAL WORK 0? THE DAY 



HIS book has won its way into general favor by its originality of 
design and its practical character. The leading educators of the 
country have contributed to its pages, and we feel safe in saying 
jU that nowhere else can so much valuable educational matter be 
A found. It is a book for every teacher who wishes to know 

of all work done in the schoolroom. It covers the entire field, asm-y 
be seen by the Table of 

Chapter I. — Opening and Closing of School. Chapter II. — Readiing* 
Chapter 111. — Arithmetic. Chapter IV. — Writing. Chapter V. — 
Spelling. Chapter VI. — Grammar. Chapter VII. — Geography. 
Chapter VIII. — History. Chapter IX. — DiscipWie and 
School Manage7iient. Chapter X. — Absence and Tardi- 
ness. Chapter XI. — Sayings of Experienced 
Educators. Chapter XII. — Forms. 



©estimflmals. 



It will not only give the teacher many new 
and valuable ideas on general teaching, but 
it will help him out of many a dilemma in 
difficult cases of discipline. * * * 

* * * It is a mine, practically in- 
exhaustible, to any true lover of his work, of 
hint and pithy suggestion. It is a book to 
be warmly commended beyond question, es- 
pecially to those who would gain a march on 
that slow tutor, experience, by appropriating 
the wisdom he has given to others more ad- 
vanced in life's lessons, and more accus- 
tomed to its discipline. — School Herald, Chi- 
cago. 

The book is designed to give the great 
mass of common-school teachers the results of 
the experience of the best lights in the pro- 
fession, and is a cyclopaedia on the topics 
named above. The old saying that "in a 
multitude of counselors there is wisdom," is 
verified in this book. It is full of good prac- 
tical suggestions, and well adapted to aid the 
inexperienced worker in the profession. — N. 
E. Journal of Education. 



It is the " Book of Proverbs " among works 
for teachers. — A. E. Jones. 

I regard it a very valuable book. — D. Mou- 
RY, Prof. Mathematics, Central Tenn. Coll. 

The idea is novel and interesting, and the 
book is worth having.— N. Y. School Bulletin.. 

The plan is an excellent one, and among 
the good books for teachers it is one of the: 
best.— Prof. G. Dallas Lind. 

The work will pull any teacher out of ruts. 
It is practical and contains a large fund of 
valuable expedients.— Arthur Burch. 

It contains very many valuable hints, and 
the practical character of its suggestions 
will help many to new ideas. — Prof. John W. 
Cook. 

I may show my ignorance in so saying, but 
it is the only educational book that has been 
of any real service to me. It is my daily guide 
in the schoolroom.— J. W. Flint, 



PRICE, POSTPAID, $1.00. 



£63 RANDOLPH ST., CJSJtQA^OQs 



0UF(IOUS SOB WEBS! 

Woven from many Queer, Quaint and Curious Ques- 
tions, gathered from many Queer Quar- 
ters, and all Unwound by 

" -e":e pedagogue." 

There are 225 questions upon quaint and seemingly difficult points pertaining 
to History, Art, Science, Philosophy, Geography, Botany, and hosts of things 
which are not generally known of by the average person. These are fully and com- 
pletely answered in the book. 

How to Use Curious Cobwebs. 

Take this little book just at the closing hour of your afternoon session, read one 
of the simplest questions to the school and invite all to tell Pa and Ma of it when 
they arrive at home. Insist that each individual shall try to find an answer if pos- 
sible. An interest is thus aroused at home. The answer can be called for the first 
thing in the morning, this being an incentive for prompt attendance. A number 
of questions can be placed on the board and remain there during the week until Fri- 
day afternoon when a general discussion can be had. I know that genuine interest 
can be elicited by this plan. Do not answer individual questions. Cite pupils to 
text books, dictionary, etc. 

Objects of Curious Cobwebs. 

To lessen the care of the teacher; to make the school more attractive and inter- 
esting; to interest parents in the work of the school ; to induce the pupil to look out- 
side of the text-book and schoolroom for information; to form habits of close observa- 
tion in the growing pupil, and in forming these habits give him a fund of informa- 
tion which will repay for all the trouble and time expended. 

The answers are full and complete. It is fully indexed so that any item can be 
readily referred to. I give a few of the queries as samples: 

"How can you prove that there is a blind spot in the eye?" "What river is 
spelled by a single letter?" "What state bought itself?" "How can you see a 
snail's 'foot'?" "What is the weight of a locomotive?" "In what battle of the 
Revolution were all the dogs of the vicinity killed to prevent giving the alarm?" 
"Can a rabbit run up hill better than down? Why?" "What member of Congress 
was never late at roll call?'' "Why will not the Jew's Harp produce a loud noise 
without placing it between the teeth?" "How can vessels carry grain free across 
the ocean?" 

These are only samples — many are more difficult than these and many are more 
simple. No one will regret having sent for this little book. 

3P3ric5o. 25 Cents, 



Sow to Teach United States History and Mow to Study it. 

UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



By JOHN TBAINER, A. M„ Co. Supt. of Schools, Macon Co., 111. 

This is a new and excellent book by a prominent teacher of fourteen years' ex- 
perience in practical school work. It contains a complete exposition of original and 
successful methods of teaching United States History. Proceeding upon the assump- 
tion that the student should remember important facts, rather than minor details, 
tRe Author presents by means of admirable Brace Outlines for the Blackboard, A 
SERIES OF OBJECT LESSONS IN HISTORY -Lessons which appeal both to the Eye 
and to the Understanding. 

This work also contains a Blackboard Analysis of each Topic in United States 
History, Directions for Teaching and Studying each Topic, Methods of Outlining, 
Written and Oral Reviews, Questions and Answers on U.S. History, Questions on In- 
dividual States, Names and Mottoes of States, etc 

It teaches a pupil how to study his lesson, how to find the prominent facts need- 
ed, how to find parallel authorities, how to remember dates, etc The Brace Out- 

lines* which are a prominent feature of the work, fix Periods, Dates, and Principles 

On the Mind with ease and photographic accuracy. They give a clear and intelligible 
outline of all important topics, confusing, non-essential details being avoided. 

The Blackboard Forms are instructive pictures for study: all can understand 
them; anyone can easily copy them on the Blackboard- 

The Directions for Study are pointed, concise and helpful. Just what teachers 
and pupils need. 

The Queer Queries, of which there are about one thousand, are filled with pith 
and point. Nothing better to stimulate an interest in History. 

The Review Questions constantly "bring out" what is likely to be forgotten- 
They cover all important points. 

Answers to Queer Queries. — This department contains a complete History of 
theUnited States in a "Nutshell.'' The answers are based upon reliable authorities. 

Individual States- — This chapter contains a clear and concise history of the 
time of settlement, date of admission, and all the prominent points connected with 
their history to date. 

Mottoes Of States is an interesting and instructive chapter. It may well be mem- 
orized. 

TZESTXlV^OIISri^LS. 

I can show hundreds of the most flattering testimonials, but have space for only 
two. 

"We have examined the copy sent us and can truly say it is the best method of 
teaching history that we have ever seen. Enclosed is M. O. for $8, for which 
send me 12 copies as offered. Iwish each of my teachers to have a copy." — Amy M. 
Bradley, Prin. Normal School, Wilmington, N. C, 

"You may write any testimonial, no matter how strong, for the History, and I 
will sign it." — R. H. Rennet, Algonquin, 111. 

Gg^ The book contains 225 pages, well printed on calendered paper, neatly and 
substantially bound in cloth. 

Agents wanted everywhere, who can easily sell a copy to every teacher, whether 
he teaches history or not. 

PRICE, POSTPAID, $1;0Q, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



027 272 294 8 



BHKBaSBt 

n 

WmMxaSMBBB 





ilM 


flKfflw 






inn 


:4% 


RH 




9| 


1 


i shsss 




n 


iiiiii 


H 


EH 


imm 



